User:Grrrreat/thematic/ersions
‘Ersions’ was an attempt to subcurate the kunstart 2012 art fair in Bolzano, Italy by producing 12.000 reproductions of a few chosen works matching the daily meta-theme. The Din A4 format reproductions were printed according to an automated schedule.
The printing machine is the only agent at the venue, the curators only submit their selection to the machine in order to have it printed. Thus the curation is manifested by mere mass of reproduction and a lack of explanation thereof. It is an approach to shifting the recipient’s perspective on a product (the artwork) by bluntly creating an overwhelming presence of the image of that product, very similar to the basic workings of the value of presence in advertising. This tries to contradict the stigma of devaluation by reproduction introduced by Walter Benjamin. We think that by copying a work, the idea of the work gains more authority, and therefore the work itself, holding the origin of the idea is increased in its value. By producing reproductions we try to shift the people’s focus to the original idea (not necessarily the original artwork), reinforcing its authority and authenticity rather than defacing it. Thus reproduction is a tool for manifesting our selection in the recipients’ memories
