Lead (Pb) envelope (41cm x 27cm) to be used for «Address Unknown»
«Address Unknown» (2024)
Herein lies an endeavor to transform into a sublime object a vexing compensatory gift sent from a close family relative – a personal portrait made from compiled childhood photographs. The concept of this work-in-progress, titled «Address Unknown», is realized according to the following process.
A photo-collage poster print (51cm x 41cm), the original portrait gift, is carefully cut up along the edges of its assembled individual photographs. The now-separated images are each numbered on the back based on their position in the original collage layout. The exact pattern of cutting and numbering is duplicated on a thick blank translucent acrylic sheet. The cut and numbered pieces of translucent paper are subsequently re-taped into the initial overall collage configuration so as to preserve the original gift’s compositional form, now devoid of its content.
In the next steps, the set of (19) cut photographs are enveloped, stored, and sealed inside three layers of materials. First, the photographs are placed into a 37cm x 24cm envelope made from tin foil (aluminum paper) in order to mirror the images back on themselves (not to mention, protect them against alien observation). Second, the tin foil layer containing the images is inserted and sealed inside a 41cm x 27cm envelope made from 2mm lead (Pb) paper. (Even the x-ray vision of Superman will be unable to penetrate the surface.)
Finally, the cut photographs – duly and respectfully protected by the two layers of enveloping materials – are placed inside a hardwood box constructed to match the size of the original uncut collage (51cm x 41cm). In the end, the box is to be permanently sealed with a hardwood backing. A translucent edge will be applied to the re-taped acrylic duplicate so as to make the dimensions of the numbered acrylic sheet and those of the original portrait gift correspond as precisely as possible. The box and sheet ensemble will ultimately be wall-mounted side-by-side as a single piece.
Here at rest, the gift – including its fraught, ambivalent gesture – will be transfigured.
Materials + Process
Showing the materials and process to-date
Numbered cut photos
Photos into tin foil envelope
Tin foil envelope containing cut photos (37cm x 24cm)
Tin foil envelope put into lead envelope
Sealed lead envelope (41cm x 27cm)
Empty box, without wood backing (51cm x 41cm)
Lead envelope in open box
Left: Box (51cm x 41cm). Right: Translucent composition (edges to be finished, 51cm x 41cm). (Total dim: 51cm x 100cm.)