#498 Visit

This work features a small pile of stones on top of the panel.

The work is inspired by the Jewish tradition of placing small stones on a grave when visiting it. This practice is also found in other cultures. It is thought to have originated from visitors leaving letters on the grave, which were held in place by stones. When the letters disintegrated, the rocks were left behind.

When we die, our inner life disappears. Everything that defined us as subjects. Death is the frame that surrounds the perception we have of ourselves. All that remains are the traces of our actions and how we have affected the world around us. Our images float for a while in the memories of those around us and then come to rest. Signs are fluid and only exist when they are used. Stone is more resilient. It silently carries its own meaning, sealed within itself.

See a production video here and a presentation here.

The series features works with an appendix placed on top of the work or close to it. This object is exterior to the image plane, the illusionary "window" in the picture, but is still an intrinsic part of the whole. It connects or makes visible the two dimensions of an artwork - its inner logic and its relation to its surrounding.
The title references the famous Coca-Cola campaign and Immanuel Kant's notion of the thing in itself. It means that subjects can only experience the phenomena as they present themselves through perception. It is always fundamentally different from what the things are outside language boundaries - in themselves.

Roll is a compilation of work made by rolling the filler until it reaches the depth of the rim of the frame. The method of letting a single action shape the work is reminiscent of Richard Serra's Verb List. It functioned as a kind of manifest for Serra's way of producing sculptures. To roll is first on the list. It´s about making art by simply exposing a matter to different kinds of forces.