graphite & watercolour/30x20cm
Of course, such a representation of such an object returns us to the familiar subjects of the white monochrome & the good old modernist grid, thoughts particularly of the work of Robert Ryman, & also another reference to a pair of Martin Creed’s ‘Works’, Nos. 340 & 384, as mentioned here back during the early summer when we were previously engaged with thoughts & deeds involving crumpled sheets of paper.
Obviously, considering the textured surfaces of a good many of Ryman’s painting-objects, especially those featuring some form of grid structure in the manufacture of, the drawing here is, by way of contrast, smooth & flat as it two-dimensionally represents the textured, three-dimensional, creased & crumpled paper object, in such a way establishing something of a dialogue with, a suggestion of, perhaps, the flat object of the sheet as it originally existed before such integrity was compromised by the action & process of folding, etc.
Considering, more generally, crumpled objects displaying blank surfaces – other than subtle tonal variations, as activated by the play of light, of course – reminded me, also, as a blast from the past, of Alex Landrum’s panel ‘Perfect Accident No. 5 of 5’, as encountered at the John Moores 20 exhibition back in 1997, a seminal & epiphanic event indeed.
Here’s a representation, taken from the as-ever essentially collectable catalogue, although 2D fails to properly communicate the overall complexity of either surface or object (as might be claimed of the watercolour drawing, of course, which exists as something ‘other’, a distanced simulacrum):
Alex Landrum 'Perfect Accident No.5 of 5'
cellulose paint on polyester resin/123x123cm
Soundtrack:
The Birthday Party homemade compilation
Jesca Hoop 'Hunting My Dress'
Hanne Hukkelberg 'Rykestrasse 68'
Rufus Wainwright eponymous
Belle & Sebastian 'The Boy With the Arab Strap'
Sparklehorse 'Dreamt for Light Years in the Belly of a Mountain'
