Elsewhere

Abstract

The book submitted here has grown out of the initial phase of a longer project. The project examines the relations between 2D and 3D space and hybrid forms (of artworks, institutions, etc.) that blur traditionally defined boundaries of art practices. The book has emerged from the (initial) year-long intervention in the painting galleries of the Natioinal Museum and Gallery of Wales Cardiff (NMGW). For this stage of the research, I focused on the departure of pictures on loan from the NMGW’s collection as occasions for exploring the relations between 2D and 3D space and hybrid forms of practice. The book displays the closed frames I installed within the painting galleries to track the departure of pictures on loan (worldwide, nationally and locally) from the galleries. The closed frames become sculptures, highlighting the duration of the absence of the pictures, while calling attention to conventions of gallery display through disrupting the practice of overhanging. The publication’s novelty lies in its pointing to the malleable boundaries of what we think of as 'the museum', hinting at its alternative status as an extended discursive space. Other features specific to the book include a time line and geographical mapping of the loans, an overview of the exhibition showing the changes in the gallery space, plus an itinerary of the travels of one of the Museum's most loaned pictures. The book also includes essays on my practice from figures in neighboring disciplines, notably: Yves Abrioux (critic and literary theorist), Guy Brett (writer and curator), and Mike Tooby (Director of the National Museum Wales).