Featuring works by
Carl Andre, Eleanor Antin, Hanne Darboven, Gilbert & George, and Sherrie Levine
Hanne Darbovens 1988 work, Harburg Sand, consists of an image of a vintage (ca. 1910) postcard from Harburg Sand (a square in Harburg, on the outskirts of Hamburg, all near where Darboven lived) showing the daily movement of people bicycles, cars, trolleys and people walking. This image of magnified over 2x and then tiled six times to create a grid of the same image, oversized. Each of the six images has the artists iconic red writing on it. The writing on the top left card reads, in German, Work, Harburg I do not lose touch with reality once in a while I watch TV and my mother gets the Otto (a mail-order fashion) catalogue. The subsequent cards each read, Work, Harburg and then proceed to use the date (the first being June 13, 1988 [13.6.88] as the basis of a calculation – 13+6+8+8= 35, with subsequent cards being dated subsequent days, with 14, 15, 16, 17 making the calculation increase to 39 in the end. Each card also has Darbovens iconic looping scrawl, and an intersection of math and musical notations, among other writings. Subtle alterations to each card (in the form of the date change) on top of the same, repeated image of people in their daily life, along with Darbovens reference to work and reality provide a potent example of Darboven using communication as both subject of the work and the material with which to present the subject. In larger terms, the work serves as an illustration, representation, actuality and questioning of daily life and work.
