Sunday, October 1, 2017

Rippin' for Gordon - #013 - Artists in Slavery

Susan Hiller and Sarah Martin (ed)
Artists at Work



First published in 2001 by BALTIC
P. O. Box 158, Gateshead, NE8 1FG
Great Britain
www.balticmill.com

© BALTIC and the authors

ISBN 1-903655-02-1

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical or other means, including
photocopying or recording, or by any information or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Design by Ripe Design Consultancy, The New Inn, Bridge Street, Braydon-on-Tyne.
Printed and bound by Cox and Wyman Ltd., Cardiff Road, Reading, Berkshire.

BALTIC is funded by the National Lottery through The Arts Council of England,
Gateshead Council, Northern Arts, European Regional Development Fund and
English Partnerships.

13,0 x 19,8 cm, 114p, softcover



On 1 October 2017 I ripped the 114 pages from Susan Hiller and Sarah Martin (ed) Artists at Work, tore them in half and threw them in the Hole I've been Diggin' for Gordon in a basement at an undisclosed location in Antwerpen since 20 February 2006.
The title refers to Gordon Matta-Clark whose last and major work ‘Office Baroque’ in Antwerpen I illegally visited at the start of my career as an artist. The performance/installation evolved into a ‘mash-up’ with ingredients from the works of various avantgarde artists from the 70’s. For instance a slant row of florescent lights inspired by Dan Flavin takes care of lightning and an endless ladder as imagined by Vito Acconci makes it possible to get in and out of the hole. The work was made visible through a number of side actions and performances where I used some of the dirt I had been digging up. Most of the dirt was used to fill up James Lee Byars' tomb.
As of 9 September 2017 the Hole is filled with precious books from my private library.






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