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

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 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. = _______cm

Take 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 ~

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