Placement: On wall
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sides: red versus blue
Encyclopaedia of being on the wrong side in art
a. An unknown red in the known space of art where everything has already to be known to be art.
b. A known blue in the unknown space of art where everything has as yet to be known to be art.
c. Where an ongoing discussion rages between those who drink coffee all day, on whether it is inevitable or not for red to be on the side that is blue and for blue to be on the side that is red.
d. Where someone momentarily pauses in their argument and sighs with sadness at the inevitability of being on the wrong side in art.
[Floorplan details]
– a space where one always knows what will happen next
– a space where one never knows what will happen next
– red rectangle hanging on the wall
10cm high, 30cm wide and 10cm deep
– blue rectangle hanging on the wall
30cm high, 10cm wide and 10cm deep
– chair, window, table with coffee cups, rug -
ABC art: red cube
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF THE ABC IN ART HISTORY
Art historian A insists the meaning of this work of art can be found in room one. Upon rushing through the passageway to room one, however, we could not find any meaning.Art historian B’s books all conclude with the meaning of this work of art being found in room two. Upon rushing through the passageway to room two, we could not find any meaning.
Art historian C argues in lectures to university students, that the meaning of this work of art is divided between rooms three and four.
Upon rushing through the passageway to room three then four, however, we could not find any meaning.
Returning to the passageway, convinced this work of art has no meaning, we little realised we were standing right within it. For later the meaning was found to be here, in this passageway, between the imaginary space of fiction and the real space of a red cube – a passageway through which we have been rushing all along.
Floorplan details:
– a. book shelf with works of fiction and a 170 x 170mm red cube
– b. a page from the Encyclopaedia of the ABC in Art History
– room 1; ledge where someone found their coffee cup but not its saucer
– room 2; ledge where someone found their coffee saucer but not its cup
– room 3; where someone wondered why the architect designed such a long room
– room 4: where someone did not notice they where in a particularly long room
– imaginary space of fiction
– passageway
– real space for a red cube
– a room for an encyclopaedia with lots of windows but no door -
The Big Coverup: white with blue stripe
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF INVISIBLE ART
Five paintings atop of the stairs of whispers are suspected of containing encoded, top-secret information. Suspiciously, the owners claim the paintings are just primed canvases – depicting nothing – that have been covered up recently due to attracting nuisance crowds of unwarranted sightseers. Your mission is to go undercover and reveal the truth of this situation by ascertaining whether the paintings are, indeed, primed canvases and the cover-up is, just, a cover-up. Go disguised as an art viewer and note all suspicious circumstances – such as other art viewers. And remember, nothing is never nothing.- stairs of whispers
- four covered-up, invisible paintings
- undercover passageway
- hidden entrance disguised with invisible paint
- where two, undercover secret intelligence officers heatedly debated whether an invisible painting is still a painting – albeit one that cannot be seen
- chairs
- fifth covered-up, invisible painting
- bench upon which to open the tins of invisible paint with screwdrivers (to lever their lids)
- tins of invisible paint on shelves
- library of hidden, possible meanings rumoured to be behind these five paintings (inscribed in invisible paint)
- a seemingly empty room with walls inlaid with invisible meanings
- an internal, purpose built lake guaranteed not to leak
- blue vinyl carpet
- hidden space for secret intelligence agents with an entrance disguised with invisible paint
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But is it art? blue, green, light green
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ART THAT IS PRESENT, BUT MISSING
‘But is it art?’ asked the Art Judge with a penetrating stare that scrutinised this page. ‘Well it was some moments ago before three of its circles went missing’, replied the Art Defence somewhat distractedly while desperately looking under books and chairs for the missing circles. ‘We’ve put ‘wanted’ posters up – with a reward. So if you don’t mind waiting a little we expect you’ll soon be able to decide.’[floorplan detials]
- where someone took down a ‘wanted’ poster to take home and put on their wall as art
- where a mathematician calculated the appropriate reward for the missing circles by summing up the advantages and disadvantages of them being found
- row of watercolour ‘wanted’ posters
- chairs
- books
- missing light green circle
- missing green circle
- missing blue circle
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But is it art? magenta, violet, red
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ART THAT IS PRESENT, BUT MISSING
‘But is it art?’ asked the Art Judge with a penetrating stare that scrutinised this page. ‘Well it was some moments ago before three of its circles went missing’, replied the Art Defence somewhat distractedly while desperately looking under books and chairs for the missing circles. ‘We’ve put ‘wanted’ posters up – with a reward. So if you don’t mind waiting a little we expect you’ll soon be able to decide.’
[floor plan details]
- where the Art Judge walked past the ‘wanted’ circles hanging on a wall but was too scandalised by their disappearance to notice
- where a couple in love walked passed the ‘wanted’ circles hanging on a wall but were too engrossed in a joke to notice
- row of watercolour ‘wanted’ posters
- chairs
- books
- missing red circle
- missing blue circle
- missing violet circle
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But is it art? orange, magenta, dark blue
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ART THAT IS PRESENT, BUT MISSING
‘But is it art?’ asked the Art Judge with a penetrating stare that scrutinised this page. ‘Well it was some moments ago before three of its circles went missing’, replied the Art Defence somewhat distractedly while desperately looking under books and chairs for the missing circles. ‘We’ve put ‘wanted’ posters up – with a reward. So if you don’t mind waiting a little we expect you’ll soon be able to decide.’
[floor plan details]
- where the Art Judge walked past the ‘wanted’ circles hanging on a wall but was too scandalised by their disappearance to notice
- where the Art Defence looked up possible precedents for claiming the ‘presence’ of the ‘non-present’ circles in the ‘Encyclopaedia of Art that is Present, but Missing’
- row of watercolour ‘wanted’ posters
- chairs
- books
- table
- missing orange circle
- missing magenta circle
- missing dark blue circle
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But is it art? red, blue, violet
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ART THAT IS PRESENT, BUT MISSING
‘But is it art?’ asked the Art Judge with a penetrating stare that scrutinised this page. ‘Well it was some moments ago before three of its circles went missing’, replied the Art Defence somewhat distractedly while desperately looking under books and chairs for the missing circles. ‘We’ve put ‘wanted’ posters up – with a reward. So if you don’t mind waiting a little we expect you’ll soon be able to decide.’
[floor plan details]
- where two artists vigorously disagreed over how best to depict the missing circles on the ‘wanted’ poster
- where the Art Judge walked past the ‘wanted’ circles hanging on a wall but was too scandalised by their disappearance to notice
- row of watercolour ‘wanted’ posters
- chairs
- books
- missing red circle
- missing blue circle
- missing violet circle
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But is it art? violet, titanium, orange
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF ART THAT IS PRESENT, BUT MISSING
‘But is it art?’ asked the Art Judge with a penetrating stare that scrutinised this page. ‘Well it was some moments ago before three of its circles went missing’, replied the Art Defence somewhat distractedly while desperately looking under books and chairs for the missing circles. ‘We’ve put ‘wanted’ posters up – with a reward. So if you don’t mind waiting a little we expect you’ll soon be able to decide.’
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primed canvas (charcoal grey)
ENCYCLOPAEDIA OF A WORK OF ART YET TO BE
‘Five secret intelligence officers are presently meeting to finalise what will be painted on the preceding, primed canvas; whereupon it will be painted and the work of art completed.’– while on the way to the meeting, this is where Secret Intelligence Officer 4 had looked into the magnifying lens of a carry-bag periscope, enabling a view behind so as to check no one was following x
– where Officer 2 had felt pressured to reach a decision at the approaching meeting x
– where Officer 3 had despaired it would not be agreed at the meeting that the canvas be painted a charcoal grey x
– where Officer 1 had hoped no one had blown the cover of Operation Vacant Space by attending this clandestine meeting x
– where Officer 5 stood to look at the primed canvas
– entrance to the Vacant Space
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primed canvas (Naples yellow)
ENCYLCOPAEDIA OF A WORK OF ART YET TO BE
Five secret intelligence officers are presently meeting to finalise what will be painted on the preceding, primed canvas; whereupon it will be painted and the work of art completed.[floor plan headings]
– while on the way to the meeting, this is where Secret Intelligence Officer 4 had checked a wristwatch monitor, connected to a minuscule back-collar camera, to make sure no one was following
– where Officer 2 had reread the secret-writing to recheck the time of the approaching meeting
– where Officer 3 had felt a tantrum mounting if it were not agreed at the meeting that the canvas be painted Naples yellow
– where Officer 1 had flinched at the degree of covert information at risk in Operation Vacant Space if the wrong decision is made at this meeting
– where Officer 5 stood to look at the primed canvas
– entrance to the Vacant Space
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primed canvas (blue)
This is the primed canvas belonging to primed canvas (Naples yellow) included here to give some idea of the sculptuation.
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poster: a sculptural situation (drawn in)
a SCULPTURAL SITUATION by gail hastings
Goddard de Fiddes Gallery
7 July to 29 July 2000
31 Malcolm Street, Perth, Western Australia[Imprinted in fine print on the left]
Issued by the Bureau of Sculptural Situations, including tricky ones, as an edition of 150 -
![art idea no. 8,582,048 [part 3]](https://gailhastings.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/8.2-art-idea-no-8582048-photo-David-Brandt.jpg)
art idea no. 8,582,048 [part 3]
exhibition invitation sent to regular gallery visitors and
available at the exhibition as a poster/catalogue,
Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin
Encyclopaedia of an Art Idea
When two art authorities conducted a critique on art idea no. 8,582,048, they removed its centre so that through it they could see the position of each other’s argument. The centre was then lost. Some time later, a photograph mysteriously circulated showing the ‘complete’ idea being registered at ‘desk no. 5’. Upon seeing this a Museum included the idea in a survey on Minimal art intended to coincide with the current exhibition, a homage to the constructivist Varvara Stepanova. The authorities therefore searched for the idea’s missing centre and, in so doing, found four possibilities. The question thus arose: which of the four is the missing one? We, a handful of willing viewers, were asked to decide. The decision, however, has not yet been made for ‘viewers’ are not to touch the art and as the idea is in the other room, we can only compare it to the possibilities via memory. This process is laborious and up until this hour [12.09 Uhr] of this day [Mittwoch 18.11.1998] , our memories have failed. Albeit, we do suspect that not one of the four is the ‘original’. Nevertheless we must continue and select one, the best one, quickly — for time is running out and the homage to Stepanova will soon be over.
Page 17
———————
- waiting room at the Bureau Of Art Ideas, Berlin
- library of forgotten ideas
- stairs
- desk no. 5
- filing cabinet of registered art ideas
- d/sided shelf
- chair
- entrance for artists wishing to register their ideas
- entrance for art authorities
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Untitled discussion no. 2
Exhibition invitation, reception, Friday 6 March 1998, Anthony Meier Fine Arts
Encyclopaedia of Missing Art
Rumour spread that one of the four horizontal, orange rectangles from the artwork untitled discussions no. 2 had ‘gone missing’. The Art Authorities met in front of the artwork to discuss whether this was so. One Authority proposed that the artwork had always consisted of a component that was ‘missing’ by being the ‘negative’ or ‘missing space’ of one of the other orange rectangles. ‘But this could not be’, argued another, for I distinctly[floor plan]
remember passing by the other day and seeing four “positive” rectangles”. ‘But memory can play a funny trick in giving an object a certain “presence”, even though it might be missing.’ ‘What rot’, exclaimed another. We are Art Authorities, not Psychoanalysts. What sort of corner are we getting into?’ But before discussing the missing rectangle further, they commenced this report by noting here the date [Friday, 29 January 1998] and time 11.52 pm .
~page 2~
[floor plan details]
– window [opposite entrance]
– corner b: acute
– shelves of books that list all the missing corners
– corner e: missing
– corner a: obtuse
– shelves of books that list missing books
– discussion area
– chairs -
Encyclopaedia of Ideas in Art
Encyclopaedia of Ideas in Art
To see and thus complete the idea hidden behind this work of contemporary art, select one of the four objects below labelled I., D., E. and A.. Hold it above the following page 206. Close your eyes, think of something you once lost and let the object haphazardly fall. Open your eyes, see how it has fallen and ask someone the time [12:26 pm] and date [22 April 1997] . Now take this lost and fallen object of I. D. E. A. and hang it on the following piece of wall. You have now revealed and thus completed the idea behind this work of contemporary art.
————page 25——— -
a silent corner 2
Individually stamped exhibition announcement card that Galerie Köstring/Maier, München
sent through the post to regular gallery visitors
Encyclopaedia of Silent Art
To make this work of silent art you must first enter a room in which there is a telephone. Wait for the telephone to ring, answer it and note the date and time of the ensuing conversation. _______ at _____ am/pm. Wait for a second call and again note the date and time. _______ at _____ am/pm. Now calculate the length of time that passed between these two conversations by making every 60 minutes equal 3 centimetres: ______hrs. _______min. = _______cmTake out this length of silence from the red rectangle above and place it on the adjoining corner wall. You have now completed this work of silent art.
~ page 565 ~
Announcement card:
The Bureau wishes to advise that silence can be saved and turned into substance by following these simple directions. Enter a room in which there is a telephone, wait for it to ring, answer it and note the date and time of the conversation: _______ at _____ am/pm. Now wait again for a second conversation: _______ at _____ am/pm. Calculate the length (substance) of time (silence) that passed between these two conversations by making every 60 minutes equal 3 centimetres: _______min. = _______cm. Results are to be recorded in the ‘Encyclopaedia of Silent Art’ at the room for two corners and a cube. Thank you.Stamped by the Bureau of Calculating Silence © 1965
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a silent corner
Individually stamped exhibition announcement card that Galerie Köstring/Maier, München
sent through the post to regular gallery visitors
Encyclopaedia of Silent Art
To make this work of silent art you must first enter a room in which there is a telephone. Wait for the telephone to ring, answer it and note the date and time of the ensuing conversation _______ at _____ am/pm. Wait for a second call and again note the date and time. _______ at _____ am/pm. Now calculate the length of time that passed between these two conversations by making every 60 minutes equal 3 centimetres: ______hrs. _______min. = _______cmTake out this length of silence from the orange rectangle above and place it on the adjoining corner wall. You have now completed this work of silent art.
~ page 212 ~
Announcement card [posted as the exhibition invitation]:
The Bureau wishes to advise that silence can be saved and turned into substance by following these simple directions. Enter a room in which there is a telephone, wait for it to ring, answer it and note the date and time of the conversation: _______ at _____ am/pm. Now wait again for a second conversation: _______ at _____ am/pm. Calculate the length (substance) of time (silence) that passed between these two conversations by making every 60 minutes equal 3 centimetres: _______min. = _______cm. Results are to be recorded in the ‘Encyclopaedia of Silent Art’ at the room for two corners and a cube. Thank you.Stamped by the Bureau of Calculating Silence © 1965
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Encyclopaedia of Time in Art: pp. 34–36
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
To find the time in this work of art, enter a room in which the air is warm and listen to the soft noise from outside.While listening, hold a pen above the grid on page 35, close your eyes and let your hand fall. Open you eyes and note the time and date of this fallen mark, on page 36.
~34~
[floor plan details]
– room of warm air;
– shelves of books on atmospheric conditions;
– books containing conversations about the weather;
– table with fan;
– windows.—————
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
~35~
—————
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
At the moment your hand fell and marked the part of the grid below, the time in this work of art was found.In completing the instructions from page 28, please note here this moment’s:
time ____[7:24pm]_____ and date ___[Monday, 12 February ’96]______________ .~36~
[floor plan details]
– room for loosing words;
– part D of an artwork;
– room for finding time;
– table for noting the time and date;
– wall seat;
– part A of an artwork.
[nb: ‘loosing’ should be ‘losing’] -
36 pages about time: pp. 28–30
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
To find the time in this work of art, enter a room in which there is a dining table and think of your last swim in the pool.With this swim in mind, hold a pen above the grid on page 29, close your eyes and let your hand fall. Open you eyes and note the time and date of this fallen mark, on page 30.
~28~
[floor plan details]
– room with dining table;
– entrance for half of the dinner guests;
– entrance for the other half.—————
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
~29~
—————
Encyclopaedia of Time in Art
At the moment your hand fell and marked the part of the grid below, the time in this work of art was found.In completing the instructions from page 28, please note here this moment’s:
time [10:06pm] and date [Saturday, 10 February ’96] .~30~
[floor plan details]
– room for chance in the passages of water and words;
– window;
– table for noting the time and date;
– book shelves. -
Encyclopaedia at the Heart of Art: 3–24 October
Encyclopaedia at the Heart of Art
To find the heart in this work of art, share a packet of 15 bonbons with friends and eat all but one.
Return the remaining bonbon to the packet and adhere it to the blue square above. Take note of when the first and second-last hearts were taken.
page 9
Encyclopaedia at the Heart of Art
And now to be at the heart of this work of art, please complete the information below.
The first heart was shared on [Tuesday, 3 October 1995] leaving the remaining heart on [Tuesday 24 October 1995]
page 8
- table
- couch
- plate on which the Jois Coeurs bonbons were served to friends
- Look – O – Look art gallery
(heart exhibition currently showing) - shelves for storing the red volumes of the Encyclopaedia
- yellow volumes
- blue volumes
- shelves for the recorded dimensions and changing shades of hearts
- chair
- table for writing the dates of the taken hearts
- shelves containing Geometric Abstraction exhibition catalogues and books
- storage room for 15 (minus 14) hearts
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Encyclopaedia of forgetfulness
Encyclopaedia of Forgetfulness
To enter one must pass from ‘room for finding 48 red beads’.
- room for counting 48 red beads
- desk
page 2
Encyclopaedia of Forgetfulness
To enter on must pass from ‘room for hoarding 48 red beads’.
- room for losing 48 red beads
- rug
page 4
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Encyclopaedia of Straight Lines
Encyclopaedia of Straight Lines
page (straight line ———— submitted on) Sat. 30th Sept at 12.29pm- table for recording in the Encyclopaedia the submission time of each straight line
- table for qualifying the straightness of each straight line
- table for grouping the straight lines into shared histories for storage
- table for teapots, teacups, tea things and biscuits
- table for dipping each straight line into preservation liquid
- room for receiving straight lines
- room for the storage of straight lines
- shelves of the Encyclopaedia of Straight Lines
- shelves for straight lines
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Encyclopaedia for writing the time 12:40 pm Saturday 30 September 1995
Encyclopaedia for writing the time
Table, empty, for writing the time
page (the time) [12:40 pm Sat 30th Sept ’95]
- ledger for recording lost time
