by Swedish artist duo Bigert & Bergström
conceived in collaboration with Les Yper Yper
One part of Bigert & Bergström’s œuvre has always been devoted to burning signs, drawings and text into white clean walls with gunpowder fuse. Since the early 1990’s, they have created 22 unique wall drawings using this fervent technique, among others at the Swedish Institute in Paris, the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin and in Brooklyn, New York, on the occasion of the release event of Cabinet Magazine’s Fire Issue. Last June, B&B visited Les Yper Yper in Thessaloniki to ignite some fuse and obscure the gallery with thick white smoke. The result not only left a black muddle of confused lines on the wall, but also sparked a discussion on how to straighten this line of fire and connect it with the world.
This has developed into the idea of making a network of short circuit works, inviting different art spaces around the world to execute their own. Participating spaces are prompted to answer one question: What is the most burning issue for you today? The answer could be one or more words, a phrase or a slogan. It could be the result of the public’s participation or of the involvement of local artists and creative practitioners. Together, these words and sentences will form a collective cut up poem stemming from burning topics and questions raised locally.
The different editions of the project in various locations will be documented and gathered into one collective presentation, once the project is complete. Each participating space will receive a DIY tool kit, including a special typeface –the Branded Alphabet developed by Swedish art director Björn Kusoffsky for being used when writing with a long line of fuse, designed by Les Yper Yper, according to instructions by B&B.
The project is a joint manoeuvre that will spread around the globe.
For more info and participations, please contact us at info@lesyperyper.com or lydia@artbox.gr.