teetotum

Anne Gutt

'dumb objects'

I often make works which are somewhere between paintings and objects, without apparent meaning; objects which are constructed deliberately but lack finesse and preciousness; negative auratic objects, impure and indeterminate, between art and rubbish. They form a non-hierarchical taxonomy of colour and materials which is makeshift and contingent. These works contain an exploration of negligible objects, obtuseness, redundancy, obdurate materialism, the quotidian, haeccitas. The desire is to side-step any pre-existing aesthetic and create something new not through a sum but through a process of implacable subtraction.

At Fold I aim to make a grid of 5 x 5 pieces each 30 cm square which can be assembled in any order, or in different configurations e.g. (3 x 3) + (4 x 4). At the moment I am working mainly with wood, plywood, unstretched canvas, cardboard, wire, twine, bubble wrap, glue, paint, bolts nails, screws, hinges and other ironmongery. Some pieces will incorporate hinged elements which will alter how the grid is seen depending on whether these are open or closed. The effort to complete 25 pieces in three days will inevitably affect the working process. I see this as an opportunity "to practice being stupid, dumb, unthinking, empty." (Sol LeWitt to Eva Hesse, 1965) I hope to finish with a work which remains open and refuses to settle, which incorporates a certain dumbness.

Residency Sept 16 17 18