Looking for Something
2012 - 2014
event / installation / performance
different excavation tools, metal shelves,
live projection, different other materials,
inkjet-prints, wooden boxes, tables
variable dimensions
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Looking for Something deals with archaeological methodologies and cathegorization strategies.
The project consists of two successive parts that highlight different aspects of a speculative approach.
Looking for Something #1 (2012) shows the remains of a selfinitiated excavation that was executed on a public field in central Jerusalem.
“I tried to learn all about archaeological working methods and the needed tools before I started the project.
I spoke to various experts, engaged in relevant pub-lications and visited active excavation sites in order to observe ‘real’ archaeologists and their behavior.
Photography was the major tool helping me document my finds as precise as possible.
Everything I dug out has been numbered, put in order according to its former location and then photographed from various angles. I took stereo photographs of the excavation site every evening and documented emerging structures layer by layer using different light sources and lens filters.
After fifty sixhours of digging I put everything back and closed the excavation site so that it looked like nothing ever happened.”
The resulting installation consists of 197 Objects found in 3 layers and 9 sections of the excavation site.
Larger prints show various interpretations of structures that have been modified using custom image editing software.
Looking for Something #2: Field Work (2014) is a participative performance in which visitors are animated to archaeologically examine the floor of an art gallery.
Technical books and other instructive references help the archaeologists to approach their new occupation. Former exhibition rooms are transformed into laboratories and archives. Tools and gadgets for excavating and documenting the finds are freely accessible.
Participants work in groups of four or five peoples. They choose their scope of duties before starting the excavation process. Potential finds can consist of anything hidden in the ground – each archaeologist decides for his own individual set of parameters.
Objects, sketches and paper documents are collected in the excavation archive. They can be viewed by general visitors and future participants outside of working hours. Pictures and articles about the excavation process are published on the galleries Facebook page.
After seven working days the excavation site is closed and all finds are returned to their original location.
