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| Artificial Memory
plotted text scroll, vitrine with illumination, 1999
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| The Great Archive
wooden boxes, inscribed plexiglass, illumination, 1993
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| The Scrolls
digital paper plot, 1993
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| Time Capsule
sealed steel container, 1995
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| Artificial Memory
plotted text scroll, vitrine with illumination, 1999 |
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This archive about archives questions the permanence of data storage, presented as discussions between professional archivists and in institutional reports, most of which were collected in the internet. The archive becomes a metaphor for a resistance against forgetting and loss.
The work is presented in a darkened room which is illuminated by the antique form of an enormous paper scroll, seemingly without a beginning or an end, representing a sacred object with biblical overtones. The scroll is mounted on a wooden base containing florescent tubes, with a glass surface.
Each line of text extends to 18 meters, flowing on to the beginning of the next line. The eye follows this stream of content, until one loses one’s horizontal location – resulting in a shifting of one’s visual attention as one springs vertically to a new starting position
997 text fragments and thumbnail images from various digital and archival sources, collected 1993 - 1999. All entries are time-stamped from the moment of collection.
Exhibited:
Hamburger Bahnhof Museum für Gegenwart, Berlin,
1999-2000
Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, 2003 |
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| The Great Archive
wooden boxes, inscribed plexiglass, illumination, 1993 |
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A historical hypertext becomes a three-dimensional image. A black box is divided by four lateral sheets of glass inscribed from edge to edge with layers of finely printed texts. The text layers are illuminated from below. The texts are reconstructed from the tens of thousands of biographical fragments.
As one peers into this sea of information, it is as if one stares into a bottomless well filled with multiple levels of floating texts in depth. One focuses one's eyes on any given text fragment on a given level, as the other text levels defocus and blur, becoming illegible. One's attention might wander to a remote or nearby fragment, our eyes continually refocusing as we isolate and connect a related or unrelated name or phrase.
A grain of sand is propelled into our field of vision for a single moment, separating forground from background, only to vanish gradually into the collective ocean of memory. The intention is to realize, in three dimensions, a hypertext as a metaphorical space which contains in compressed form a database of all mankind.
Texts from: Who´s Who in Central & East Europe 1933
Exhibited:
Galerie Ozwei, Berlin, 1992
Kulturfabrik Kampnagel, Hamburg, 1995
Bayerisches Staatsschauspiel; Marstall, Munich, 1995
Arken Museum for Modern Art, Cultural Capital of Europe, Copenhagen, 1995
In Medias Res, Istanbul, 1996
Jewish Museum, Vienna, 1997
Veletrzni Palac, National Gallery, Prague, 1997 |
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| The Scrolls
digital paper plot, 1993 |
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Digital plot on paper, 91.5 cm. x 4.5 m.; mounted on wooden poles painted black, horizontally placed on floor
Texts: Who's Who in Central & East Europe 1933
Lists of fragmental details such as addresses and organizations which were sampled from the “Who’s Who in Central & East Europe” database and are printed on large endless text scrolls using an architectural plotter and are mounted on wooden poles. These scrolls represent both an archaic form of writing, seemingly without a beginning and an end, as well as a sacred object with biblical overtones.
Exhibited:
Galerie Ozwei, Berlin, 1992
Kulturfabrik Kampnagel, Hamburg, 1995
In Medias Res, Istanbul, 1996
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| Time Capsule
sealed steel container, 1995 |
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Welded steel container.
The "Time Capsule" was first exhbited within the interactive installation work, "Memory Arena" (1995-96).
The contents are not indicated and the work is inscribed with the following text:
TIME CAPSULE
DEDICATED 22, November, 1963 A.D.
TO BE OPENED. 4 Juli, 2776 A.D.
The following text is displayed next to the work:
"Time Capsule, a container storing historical documents and objects that is to be opened at some future date. The contents, which, may include historical documents and artifacts, are intended to reveal something about contemporary civilization to future generations. A capsule is often prepared to commemorate a notable event, such as a World´s Fair or the landing on the moon. It is generally buried in the ground."
Exhibited:
Arken Museum for Modern Art, Cultural Capital of Europe, Copenhagen, 1996
Stadtgalerie Saarbrücken, 2003 |
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