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Conceptual Art Baldessari, John
Give me a B, give me an A .
See original version (German)
360
-
Conceptual Art Baldessari, John
Give me a B, give me an A .
See original version (German)
Estimate €1,000 - €1,200
Voluntary lot
Description
Conceptual Art
Baldessari, John
Give me a B, give me an A ... & etc. 2009. 10-panel leporello. Digital pigment print (Ditone) on 188 g Hahnemühle Photo Rag. 32 x 250 cm. Signed and numbered on the reverse.
One of 75 copies (GA 100 copies) - In his 2009 Leporello, John Baldessari spells out his own surname using a pictographic system of his own devising, in which each letter is assigned a photographic emblem whose English name corresponds to the respective symbol. The foldable, horizontally unfolding format references both the tradition of the artist’s book and the sequential logic of film, and points to Baldessari’s lifelong exploration of the intersections between language, image and seriality. The repetition of identical pictorial symbols for letters that occur multiple times takes the premise of a universal pictographic writing system seriously whilst simultaneously exposing its tautology – a structuralist reflection on the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign in the sense of Saussure. The title, borrowed from American cheerleading, frames the work as a performative gesture rooted in pop culture, which questions the self as a linguistic construct whilst unfolding the quiet humour that is always inherent in the act of designation.
10-panel accordion fold. Digital pigment print (Ditone) on 188 g Hahnemühle Photo Rag. 32 x 250 cm. Signed and numbered on the reverse. One of 75 copies. - In his 2009 Leporello, John Baldessari spells out his own surname using a pictographic system he devised himself, in which each letter is assigned a photographic emblem whose English name corresponds to the respective symbol. The foldable, horizontally unfolding format references both the tradition of the artist’s book and the sequential logic of film, pointing to Baldessari’s lifelong exploration of the intersections of language, image and seriality. The repetition of identical pictorial symbols for letters that appear multiple times takes the premise of a universal pictographic writing system seriously whilst simultaneously exposing its tautology—a structuralist reflection on the arbitrariness of the linguistic sign in the sense of Saussure. The title, borrowed from American cheerleading, frames the work as a performative gesture rooted in pop culture that questions the self as a linguistic construct, thereby revealing the quiet humour that is always inherent in the act of designation.
See original version (German)
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Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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