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Josef Kosuth's conceptual art piece 'One and Three Chairs' provides
the impetus for this group project, '1 and 3'. It is a part-collaborative
work involving three artists working under the Discotheque banner.
A simple grid as shown is marked onto the gallery floor with chalk.
To begin with the row of spaces on each side of the triangle are
to be filled with each artist's three pieces, which (like the Kosuth
work) consist of an image element, a real element, and a text element.
The audience are then invited to become participants: provided they
stick to the image-real-text combination for each row, and don't
put more than one work from each artist in a row, they are invited
to move the elements around as they wish, thus actualising some
of the numerous possible triptychs of image, real and text.. There
are however only a very limited number of arrangements possible
following these requirements.
The piece thus becomes collaborative, not just between the three
artists, but also between the artists and the audience.
Dave Ball proposed elements:
Image - A stack of individual pieces and larger sections
of a jigsaw clamped to the underside of a plant stand. Some of the
larger sections are clearly recognisable as depicting daffodils.
The plant-stand is of normal height.
Object - Some daffodils growing in a pot. The whole thing
is turned upside-down and attached to the underside of a plant-stand.
The plant-stand has been shortened by about a quarter (possibly
motorised to rotate continuously to prevent proper growth).
Text - A brief description of daffodils taken from a gardening
manual printed onto a small free-standing mirror. The daffodil description
includes growing advice and uses the scientific name, "narcissus".
The mirror is placed on top of a plant-stand which has been shortened
to a height of three or four inches.
Dædalus proposed elements:
Image - A plastic and metal, blue and orange four foot high pogostick
with blue wooden frame containing a laser copy of Magritte's 'The
Art of Living' roughly coloured in with blue and orange crayon (defaced?)
hanging from it. The pogostick will be propped up with a metal wire
stand. Pogostick and 70s Spacehopper-like image seem connected.
A static movement machine.
Object - six inch square topped white wooden plinth two foot
high with four black plastic castor wheels(projecting from underneath)
with doll's head contained in small white bean bag on top. Inside
'plinth' is CD player which plays continuously a loop of part of
cole porter's song 'Face the music and dance', "There may be trouble
ahead, But while there's music and moonlight and love and romance,
Lets face the music and dance".
Text - five and a half foot grey uplighter stand on top of which
25x16x5cm cardboard box with letters cut out of one side to spell,
on three lines, 'north face/of the/eiger sanction'. Inside small
lights to illuminate/cast shadows to make words legible.
David McKeran proposed elements:
Image - A pocket camera with "captive image". The camera
has been adapted to work as a low-powered projector. It contains
a halogen light source illuminating a 35mm transparency. The camera
is mounted on a music stand and projects an image onto a blank sheet
of music manuscript paper. Could also be read as "face the music".
Object - Two circular mirrors are mounted face to face on
top of a hi-hat stand, taking the place of the cymbals that are
normally found there. A foot pedal allows the two mirrors to be
separated slightly and closed again. We can catch a glimpse of an
image of a face and it's reflection, but the self-contained entity
formed when the two are brought together is denied us.
Text - A tetrahedron is inscribed with "facial expressions".
Though static at the moment there is the possibility that a facet
could be revolved like a rubik cube puzzle, breaking-up meaning
and revealing a new permutation.
Whilst we wish to keep the format of Image - Object - Text that
Kosuth used, we don't want to limit ourselves as rigidly to the idea
of each of them having to be about exactly the same thing. ie a
chair. We wish to explore the theme of 'About Face' in as many/varied
ways as possible. To make things even more interesting the three of
us will each do the three formats, rather than only tackling one each.
Knowing that most artists opt for wall based work, we have decided
to limit ourselves to "freestanding" elements. The nine elements
will be arranged in a triangular formation, three elements on each
side, in the "correct" order on each side - Image - Object - Text
- the positions being marked in chalk or tape on the floor, along
with the corners.
Being 360 degree viewable as well as having a non static audience
interactive nature the piece will display many facets of the incorporated
aspects of FACE along with its differences in media, heights, sound,
light, living tissue etc., etc..
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