Draw a line

Draw a line
1999
Graphite, diffusion folio, 20 kg graphite block on dragging gear

After and during graduation I have been taken part in several “Art in public” projects to experiment with performance and installations. The project “Virtual -visual “ took place in the German city of Dorsten and was promoted as an art happening.
The building our crew was working in was facing major reconstruction and was currently more or less abandoned. In its transitory state it was open to experimental work and activities.
The buildings facilities had functioned in various ways, for example as a magazine storage, an office and as a primary school. Throughout the last ten years it had been an asylum for war refugees. I paid attention of one particular wing that functioned as a teaching room and
had been further divided into three smaller sections in order to serve as living spaces.
This place was interesting in the sense that their walls were scratched and typographically marked by former tenants and displayed various names and drawn sketches. Furthermore pale marks on the linoleum floor still gave slide hints towards its colorful history and earlier size and function.
I decided to draw a line and connect the three sections again.
Before the breaking of the walls I made a frottage (graphite rubbing of the wall surface on semitransparent folio) on partitions that I wanted to open.
After breaking two openings into the walls, the frottage were placed back to cover the new entrances, only illuminated by the natural light of the next room.
The line on the ground was done by a solid piece of graphite that was dragged over the floor during an hour of walking the new line.