BLACK WHITE
Group show in Atelier 59, a studio turned into exhibition space for one show, in which all the works related to the colours black and white, either by subject or by representation or by both. The documentation of the exhibition is entirely in black and white too.
Cold War Comic Strip
2009
Transparencies, ink, water
Spy vs. Spy* by the Cuban Antonio Prohías was published in MAD Magazine in USA after Prohías escaped to USA, as a consequence of Fidel Castro taking over the free press in Cuba. The strip has run, with alternating cartoonists at the pen, ever since, and has become symbolic for the Cold War. It was Prohías’ comment on the futility of the eternal relationship of armed escalation and détente between the two super powers, USA and USSR. As in an endless game of chess, the two spies in Spy vs. Spy take turns to beat each other, even long after the end of the Cold War.
For this show, a comic strip that suited the photography theme was chosen, and since the number of small upper windows fitted the length of a Spy vs. Spy strip, the strip was printed on transparencies and ‘glued’ to the windows with water. The transparent strip could be read against the clouded sky, as a reminder of an imaginary Cold War battleground with mushroom clouds.
*Spy vs. Spy is called Sort og Hvid (Black and White) in Danish.
The comic strip as it appears in the original material:
Black Tie-Dye
2009
Shirt, tie, dye, water, hanger
This performance piece is a follow-on to another tie-dye project, called Batik*, also using only black dye. The two projects had the same goal; to take the craft of tie-dyeing, with all the colourful associations of the 60’s and the 70’s, and turn up the contrast to bring out the patterns, instead of having the focus on the vibrant rainbow colours. The Batik work was very much about people coming together, a performative workshop, to make their own patterns, but in this piece, the emphasis is on the individual and the way some changes occurred within a decade. The step from white shirt, tucked down pants, and a black, tight tie, to a loose, psychedelic look is unfolded within the endurance of the performance. The final product is left to dry on the wall, as a black/white photograph of that period.
*Batik is Danish for tie-dye, and covers both the kind of tie-dyeing popularized in the western world in the 60s and the Javanese dyeing technique using wax, called Batik.
The performance at the opening of the show:
Cold War Comic Strip
2009
Transparencies, ink, water
Spy vs. Spy* by the Cuban Antonio Prohías was published in MAD Magazine in USA after Prohías escaped to USA, as a consequence of Fidel Castro taking over the free press in Cuba. The strip has run, with alternating cartoonists at the pen, ever since, and has become symbolic for the Cold War. It was Prohías’ comment on the futility of the eternal relationship of armed escalation and détente between the two super powers, USA and USSR. As in an endless game of chess, the two spies in Spy vs. Spy take turns to beat each other, even long after the end of the Cold War.
For this show, a comic strip that suited the photography theme was chosen, and since the number of small upper windows fitted the length of a Spy vs. Spy strip, the strip was printed on transparencies and ‘glued’ to the windows with water. The transparent strip could be read against the clouded sky, as a reminder of an imaginary Cold War battleground with mushroom clouds.
*Spy vs. Spy is called Sort og Hvid (Black and White) in Danish.
The comic strip as it appears in the original material:
Black Tie-Dye
2009
Shirt, tie, dye, water, hanger
This performance piece is a follow-on to another tie-dye project, called Batik*, also using only black dye. The two projects had the same goal; to take the craft of tie-dyeing, with all the colourful associations of the 60’s and the 70’s, and turn up the contrast to bring out the patterns, instead of having the focus on the vibrant rainbow colours. The Batik work was very much about people coming together, a performative workshop, to make their own patterns, but in this piece, the emphasis is on the individual and the way some changes occurred within a decade. The step from white shirt, tucked down pants, and a black, tight tie, to a loose, psychedelic look is unfolded within the endurance of the performance. The final product is left to dry on the wall, as a black/white photograph of that period.
*Batik is Danish for tie-dye, and covers both the kind of tie-dyeing popularized in the western world in the 60s and the Javanese dyeing technique using wax, called Batik.
The performance at the opening of the show: