Monument
18 - 28 Sep 2011
MONUMENT
18 – 28 September, 2011
The walls of the first floor gallery at the Townhouse are empty. But from September 18 the public is invited to come in and take them over.
Developed in tandem with “This is Not Graffiti” in the Factory Space, “Monument” is an open exercise in audience participation. Walking through each of the four rooms in the gallery, visitors may pick up the available drawing utensils and tag the walls – whether in the form of a visual response to the works in “This is Not Graffiti” next door; spontaneous free associations; or personal reflections on current events. Visitors are free to creatively respond to this proposition however they so choose.
Each room in the gallery is framed by a different concept. “Witness,” “Record,” “Remember” and “Forget”: four words that represent different moments in the creation of history. And these four moments correspond to the drawing mat - rials available to the visitors – paint markers, graphite pencils, colored chalk and charcoal – that range from permanent to erasable, precise to easily blurred, colorful to black-and-white.
The accumulated drawings, scribbles, words and markings will combine to create a counter-monument to the present moment in Egyptian history. A monument where multiple, unfinished stories are told, and diverse perspectives are portrayed; but where some are boldly and indelibly written, whereas others are crossed out, smudged, or wiped away.
18 – 28 September, 2011
The walls of the first floor gallery at the Townhouse are empty. But from September 18 the public is invited to come in and take them over.
Developed in tandem with “This is Not Graffiti” in the Factory Space, “Monument” is an open exercise in audience participation. Walking through each of the four rooms in the gallery, visitors may pick up the available drawing utensils and tag the walls – whether in the form of a visual response to the works in “This is Not Graffiti” next door; spontaneous free associations; or personal reflections on current events. Visitors are free to creatively respond to this proposition however they so choose.
Each room in the gallery is framed by a different concept. “Witness,” “Record,” “Remember” and “Forget”: four words that represent different moments in the creation of history. And these four moments correspond to the drawing mat - rials available to the visitors – paint markers, graphite pencils, colored chalk and charcoal – that range from permanent to erasable, precise to easily blurred, colorful to black-and-white.
The accumulated drawings, scribbles, words and markings will combine to create a counter-monument to the present moment in Egyptian history. A monument where multiple, unfinished stories are told, and diverse perspectives are portrayed; but where some are boldly and indelibly written, whereas others are crossed out, smudged, or wiped away.