Painting That Cannot Be Seen
This consists of a picture painted with luminous paint, the subject matter being entirely unimportant. The painting should ideally be executed on the wall, and shown alone in a small room. Upon entering the room, the viewer triggers a set of powerful halogen security lights. Therefore, what allowed the work to become visible, the fact that the paint needs the light to then glow in the dark, also means that no-one can see the work: the lights are off only when the room is empty. It's a visual corollary of the old philosophical question: 'if a tree falls in a wood and there's no-one to hear it, does it make a sound?' In fact, the painting could d simply consist of these words.
©copyright 2005 Nicholas Middleton