teetotum
11 September – 14 October 2006
Fold Gallery, Kirkby Stephen - UK

8 invited artists, having common working concerns dealing variously with art and the everyday, and the 'performance' of minimal gestures, undertook a series of 3 day mini-residencies (living and working in the gallery space). Each of these periods was bookended by a day in which each artist met and discussed with the previous/subsequent artist.

Redrawn, HB [Repeat] involved a return visit to the Fold Gallery space. The first visit in August 2004 saw a wall surface, 65 x 80cm in area, filled in with HB pencil; then sanded off and laid across a corresponding area on the floor. Two years later having been invited to participate in the teetotum project, and with the proposition of extending, modifying or reconfiguring this past work in mind, various such revisions were considered. However rather than tautologising this previous action, a decision was taken to use the same words and to do it again. Using the inaccurate process of measuring from photographic records of the first visit an attempt was made to locate the ‘exact’ location of the 65 x 80cm area to repeat the action. As the time spent in the space on this second visit was longer in duration, the repetition inevitably did not fit and further decisions needed to be made in order to avoid this anachronism.

Unexpectedly traces of the previous visit were clearly visible below the surface of the wall and floor, perhaps imperceptible to others, and thus made the process of locating the work much simpler than had been anticipated. Having spent the first two days of the residency repeating the action, the third was left to consider how best to ‘extend the work’. Having already decided not to physically extend the work into a series in the space (either above or to the side of the existing area), the idea of simply filling in the same area for a third time was considered. This was decided too literal an extension of the work, when in fact the work had already extended, not only doubled by doing it again, but it had created an additional surplus in its variation: the application was quicker; the surface was darker / more consistent but less creamy; the removal was quicker and in turn resulted in less dust. Therefore it was necessary simply to fill time.