| «artsellingdot» |
| The
artist re.to studied economics and graphic design at the University of
Berne. Since 2003, he has been working exclusively with small orange-red
glue dots (diameter: 8 mm) designating a sold piece of art in the art market.
re.to has made these «artsellingdots» the material he works
with. |
|
| Thousands
of dots in public places |
| In
his work, re.to sticks thousands of «artsellingdots» in public
places, but also on walls in galleries and museums. These pieces of art
are ephemeral and nonmarketable. The graduate economist playfully reflects
the mechanisms of the art market and abstracts the glue dots from their
original context by using large quantities of them without establishing
a reference to actually sold works of art. It does not come as a surprise
that his work is not for sale: An additional dot on his work would not
be recognisable as an act of marketing. |
|
| Poetry
and Warning |
| The
red «artsellingdots» are bedazzling. They scintillate like
fresh fallen snow, sparkle like snowflakes in the sunlight. They effuse
a poetical hilariousness. The dots express high spirits and confer cheerfulness.
But this purity and cheerfulness is also subject to fraction: The bright
warning colour points to a significance beyond any dotted cheerfulness:
Thousands of identical artificial flakes affect the contemplator in a thoroughly
threatening manner and are suited to evoke associations to artificial,
chemical snow or egalitarian cloning. re.to’s work offers the public a
scene for easy fun at first sight; at a second glance however, the assembly
of dots unveils an ambiguous denotation. |
|
| Within
cultural activities, the function of the red glue dots was a very definite
one up to now. The appearance of the artist re.to has changed this. |
|
| Text: Fanni
Fetzer, Kunsthaus Langenthal |
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| »
Catalog:
Download
PDF (1093 KB) |
|
| »
Reference:
Swiss
Institute for Art Research |
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| »
Contact:
mail [at] re.to |
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| © re.to |
|
