Zoe Keramea: Geometry of Paradox by The Drawing Center

ZOE

K E R AM EA

G EO M E TRY

OF PARADOX] )

The DrawingCenter June1B- July30,2005

ZOE

KER AM E A

GEOMETRY

O F P A R A D OX

de Zegherand KathrynA. Tuma Curatedby Catherine

ProgramI I EdwardHallamTuckPublication

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P a r a d o x and P erc eptual Ex p e r ie n c e in the Art of Zoe Keramea

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"Asfor os thelowsof geometryreferto reolity,theyorenot certoin;ondos for os theyorecertoin,theYdo not referto reolity." 1922 - ALarnr Etllsrettt, Geometry ondExperience,

a snakebitesits owntail to forma perfectcircle.Likethe perIn the ancientsymbolof the Ouroboros, of oppositestheinextricability YinandYang, thisfigureproposes formsof theChinese fectlyinterlocking andcounterA denseknotof themes andcreation. andend,destruction of lightanddark,beginning preoccupations of the Greek the deeper of alsooffersan efficientencapsulation the Ouroboros themes, forms withgeometric engagement a penetrating andthrough Wending itswayaround artistZoeKeramea. rooted in the work is deeply made, Keramea's elements outof whichtheyare compositional andthebasic has Geometry thought. andmetaphorical asa system of bothlogical figuration history of geometrical as an array forms, however, but of abstract system interest notsomuchasa coherent Keramea's captured broken downintoconstito beanalyzed, potentialities logics areavailable whoseinternal of conceptual intotheir down, or even transformed inside out or upside andultimately undone-turned tutiveelements, certitude. to epistemological geometry doesnot functionasa meansof access ForKeramea, opposites. geometric much asthe her forms, knowledge haunts palpable mysteries of sense of thedeeper Instead, a withdoubt, thehidisnecessarily entwined thatallknowledge formalstructure of the Ouroborossuggests light. dark with the the theclearwiththeambiguous, denwiththeunhidden, preferred concerns motifs,truerto herthematic These strips: aresomeof Keramea's knots,Mdbius Circles, perfection pointor theabstract of a line.Bornin Athens, of a geometrical thanthesharpdecisiveness pervaded fishing nets, hand-woven baskets, lines, by shipping in an environment wasraised Keramea Yetasmuchassuchknotted laced, andknitted. embroidered, wreathes, andcloththathasbeenstitched, exclusively asconceplines in her art function almost for her,the associations lineshavestrongcultural "line," in fact,is nevera lineaspointdrawnto point.Sheasksinstead: Keramea's tualobject-problems. Figure and project Howdoesa planeimplyvolume? or definecontext? space, howdoeslinealready geometry figures at exactly in herworld:Keramea to separate ground, areimpossible andcontext shape penetrating Asa plane space. place substance narrow of dimensional asa wherelinealready exists the notonlygeometaphorizations of "line"connote suchmaterialized foldedpaper stripor a curlingribbon, purely Neither abstract, properties and dimension. withsubstance of objects butalso metricabstraction, formsexistin a liminal hergeometric to a "real"object, equivalent nor,on the otherhand,mimetically incongruence andparadox. in a middle-zone of andillusion, therealmof abstraction statebetween of balance systems an abilityto capturein exquisite motifspossesses characteristic Eachof Keramea's hones to an acutepitch.Toward tensions theartistmeticulously tension, formalandperceptual complex palette reduced to Her radically means. straightforward working with deceptively that end,sheprefers limitsherself to some Keramea helpsherfocuson technique), blackandwhite(whichshehasexplained paper, graphite, Thereafter subof thread. a spool andconstruction: of the mostbasictoolsof drawing possibilities logicin internal to that governing rules, shepursues mittingto a strictsetof predefined "drawings" means, Keramea's art distinfrank clarity of Yetfor allthe of bothtwoandthreedimensions. playthrough far lessstraightforward: of an instrument theparticipation guishes abstract itselffrompure, perception instrument, andmenpencil, is Keramea's onemightsaythat thanthe themind's eye.Rather

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aboutwhatit self-consciousness of the beholder's Insisting on an intensification hermedium. tal space "l wouldliketo provoke hiseyesandbrain, to engage theviewer haswritten, Keramea means to perceive, perceive in asmental space in thedrawing;to theparadoxes of thespace to makesense evenunwillingly, putit,"Looking is iseasy; seeing 0r,astheartisthasalsosuccinctly space of thedrawing." theillusionary one's to whichit amplifies art is thedegree aspects of Keramea's Indeed, oneof the moststriking hard." "looking" passive, reflective, cogand the act of or disengaged between a shallow, of the difference sense seeing. thatcomewithfocused challenges nitively assertive workis howto manipquestions representational theartistmaking confronting 0neof thefundamental depthandvolof dimensionality-of anillusion surface soasto generate madeonthepicture ulatemarks "seeing" "trick" conKeramea isolates someof thetechniques space. eyeinto themind's ume-andthereby logicstheirinternal and,converting sensation of space thisillusionistic ventionally usedto generate images to herdelineated them,causing onemightsay-sheredeploys themselves, twisting themagainst physicalcorrelatives likeplausiwithconvincing objects to failtodescribe fallslightly short,evenovertly perceptual with thatarebeset experiences Keramea's artstimulates of surface. or consistency blevolume physical reality, her thatcouldmatcha potential theviewer an image Rather thanoffering contradiction. realities. illusions of impossible crafted present not illusions of therealbutrathercarefully drawings takes workderives fromthefactthatanygivenimage-which illusionism of Keramea's Theirresolvable presented in tandem mind-is always in with the the eye concert visual activities of through the shape oneor lt is nota matterof "choosing" impossibility. of itsliteralor conceptual withan inbuiltfiguration game Rather, picture rabbit. of duck and in classic an image, as the to stabilize orientation another space"-at the limltof its of whatshecalls"mental themind-inthedomain Keramea's workchallenges The images: a figureand its counterfigure. incongruous two simultaneously abilityto accommodate is paradoxically heightened bothby Keramea's between an imageandits contradiction incompatibility stability. to perceptual cuesthatmightcontribute intense focuson objectdetailandbythelackof visual "mental in mind exercises hasdescribed as Knots(tgg+),whichKeramea for instance, the series Take, near/far, large/small, or relationships such as spatial might decisively settle that where elements space," progresssheets, theseries one-byeight-foot on tall,narrow, absent areentirely over/under It2l. Drawn indeterto beshallow, in whatappears andundulating of a singleribboncurving esfromthedepiction speciwitha repetition of thetangled ribbon entwines where a second minate space, to thenextdrawing, percepin thenext.Withprolonged is included eachdrawing ficityof thefirst.Likea figuralpolyphony, they in space, onebegins to seethatalthough figures theseknotted astheeyetraces tualengagement, whatisdepicted to replicate it wouldbeimpossible to detail, withexacting attention havebeenrendered information reality. Asit teases oururgeto "translate" in therealmof a three-dimensional on thesheets "real," like what work the Konts forms back into a dimensional illusionistic from representation's drawn yetfundamenstable between two simultaneously oscillation is an irresolvable ultimately depicts series figures thesedrawin depth, the possibilities. to see Knots Even we are encouraged as incompatible tally ingspresent couldonlyeverexiston theflat. (tggZ)offersa metaphorical of the figuration of another aspect Circumference way,Keramea's ln a related pictorial the ln Circumference, in space of objects the apprehension nature of vision and fraught 11451. planenowa longandnarrow Thepicture hasbeenturnedintoa horizontal. of Knots verticality dramatic anda halffeetlong,the At thirty-three in foreshortening. has drawn extreme it a circle been scroll, on lengthof thescrollandbecause of theexceptional bothbecause to seein itsentirety imageis impossible picture portion mayberolledup given surface of the moment some where at any its nature osa scroll, of

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Keramea hintsat thefallacy literally invisible. Playing on thetropeof invisibility, of thinking andrendered for in truthwhathasbeendrawnis thatwhichis not-circle. thata oicture of a circlehasbeen"drawn." weseefigures Whatweseeisa circle shaped byabsence;with onlythebackground shaded, the"figure" paradox is similar thatwhichcannotbe-isnot-seen. Thisconceptual to Keramea's treatemptyspace: mentof theKnofs, whereribbons continuous arein factcrisply separated byintervals of nonthatappear indicating drawing. At everypointwhereoneperceives themas"crossing" oneanother-therefore deterpaper Fortheartist, works minable spatial orientation-there isin factanabsence: theunmarked support. likeCircumferenceand Knotsand areofferednotto foolthebeholder, butto bringhimor herintogreater awareness of thewaymindandeyecollaborate to create a world,to fill in gaps, andto generate a world worldwhichmayor maynot in factrelate to whatwe conceive as"reality." of solidity andcoherence-a "Seeing" is nevera passive norevena strictlyvisualact,butanactiveprocess of creation anddestruction, endlessly subtended bytherhythms andfluctuations of cognitive attention andinterpretive stance. surfaces, Keramea's workoffersvarious vantages Perhaps bestdescribed asan art of hiddenandunhidden in a staticviewpoint. Theartistoncesuggested thatgo in andoutof focus, nevercementing thatoneof hergoalswas"unhiding" thehidden structures andharmonies in whatwe perceive butareperhaps rarely pointof observation, fromeveryparticular one'sperceptual fieldpresents itselfas ableto see.In actuality, Thus, is a combination of surfaces thatcomein andout of viewwhenseenfromdifferent aspects. seeing literally asa destructive act.In this,Keramea echoes an insightof oneof thetwentieth asmucha creative greatperceptual psychologists, whocalledthisphenomenon century's J.J. Gibson, the "lawof reversible "every gooutof sighthasanopposite occlusion"-the ideathat movement thatmakes a surface thatmakes it comeintosight."'This significance for oneof Keramea's signature forms, a specifconcept bears special ic kindof hexahedron, volume. AmongthePlatonic wasclassically figor six-sided solids, thehexahedron pyramid, ispreferred. In her uredasa cube. ForKeramea, however, thesix-sided triangular or dualpyramid, ModulorStructuresand Flexible Sculptures, for instance, a stripof paperisfoldedintothe hexahedron, as intoitselfto become the flat surface of the paperis "knotted" a solidvolume-not unlikethe waythe swallows its owntailtel Themodulethat results comesto serveasthe fundamental formfor )uroboros newmodular Theworksin the series units,whicharesewntogether andusedto createlargerworks. "ThePerceiving 1. JamesJ. Gibson, of HiddenSurfaces," in Sfudiesin Perception, ed.PeterK. Machamer and RobertG.Turnbull (Columbus: 1978), 422. 0hioStateUniversity Press,

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tel (1998foldedoutof wiremeshtzt.Self-tying, hedronic shapes, 1999)areoneexampleof suchhexa Porosites whattheartisthascalledan"un-knot"-more intothemselves, becoming interlock the Porosites in a sense, lt iscrucial fortheartist beunfolded. caneasily thana knot-which spiral or nautilus likeaninward-turning paper processes. Thus, threadneverpunctures reversible allcomprise drawings thatherthree-dimensional nature of the material implicit aspects of the glue reversibility abide as Flexibility and is neverused. and truthsthattheartistembraces. to the perceptual antipathetic wouldbeconceptually work,for stasis gazingat forever in place, transfixed by illusions, locked founditselftrapped, In Plato's cave,humanity Keramea's forms real. flickering to be mistakenly believing the on thewall, the playof lightandshadow deftlychallenges thisfoundaillusionism, in representational knotsimplicated art,takingup thelogical philosophical powerful of critiques most of the oldest and asone whichhaslongserved tionalallegory, andhypsource of mesmerism theideaof artasa dangerous allureof worksof art.Against theseductive robust active of and illusionism as a source figures complexities of workinstead the Keramea's nosis, puzzles too,implicperceptual thatdelightandenticethemind,sheoffers, Asshepresents engagement. pleasures with the experience of that come illusion and the instruction aboutthe natureof it cognitive to address capacity to strengthen the mind's Suchactivityhasthe potential vigorous mentalexercise. new kindsof perspicacity. is to create At its best, art able and clarity therealandto seeit withrenewed yetit alsohasthenotable abilityto trainthemindintoa morepowsatisfaction, visionfor ouraesthetic passivity perceptual entertainments, and soporific days of In theseinformation-age erful muscle. Keramea's ooalhasneverbeenmorenecessarv.

Ii st o f W ork s I, ll, lll CircledSquores 1990 Zoetype E ac hT x , t 0 i n c h e s

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SpikeyMoebius 2002 Paper andthread 8x8x4l /2i nches

Knotsll, lV, Vl,Vlll,X 1994 Graphite onpaper Each 96x 12inches

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)ctober-Longingfor the Seo 2004 onpaper leporello Graphite 5 1/2x 1051/2inches

Circumference 1997 Graphite onpaper scroll 402x 12inches

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November-Requiem for o RibbonStore 2004 leporello Graphite onpaper 5 1/2x 1051/2inches

NoutilusAntecedent 1998 Graphite onpaper 7 112x71/2inches

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December-|S2 Blocks 2004 Graphite onpaper leporello 5 1/2x 105l/2 inches

DoubleCubesN, NW,NE 1998 onpaper Graphite Each 23 112x 30inches

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SeoSerpenf// 2005 Paper andthread variable Dimensions

Porosite,Noutilus 1998 steelwire-cloth Hand-folded stainless 16x '12x 10inches

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FoldedFlexiblePlone 1999-2005 Paoer andthread 148x 46x 2 1/2inches

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Morch-Compression Tento )ne 2005 leporello Graphite onpaper 5 'll2x '105 1/2inches

Decendent 1998 Graphite onpaper 7 112x71/2inches

Vll Porosite 1999 Hand-folded stainless steelwire-cloth 12x 12x 9 inches

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titlepage, andplates 2,4,5, Cover, 6,7,8 photographed byCathy Carver. Allworks collection of theartist.

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TheDrawingCenter's exhibitions documenting a seriesof publications Thisis number54 of the DrowingPopers, a forumfor thestudyof drawing. andproviding andpublicprograms to the EdwardHallamTuck throughcontributions is madepossible The2004-2005seasonof the DrowingPopers Fondaras, RobertDuke,Elizabeth BeattyAdler,Maryand RobertCarswell, Programfrom Frances Publication Michael JoanneLyman, WernerH.Kramarsky, Mr.andMrs.JamesR.Houghton, KathyFuld,EllenGallagher, Inc.,Shearman ft RohatynFoundation, TheFelixandElizabeth Negroponte, George Lynne, JohnJ. Madden, and LilyTuck. SterlingLLP, supportof The StavrosS. Niarchos throughthe generous of Porodoxismadepossible Zoe Keromeo: Geometry Foundation. Catherine de Zegher Executive Dircctor

Negroponte George President Bo ard o f D ir ec t or s FrancesBeatty Adler Choirmon EricC. Rudin Vice-Choirmon Dita Amory JeanMagnanoBollinger Melva Bucksbaum FrancesDittmer Colin Eisler ElizabethFactor

BruceW. Ferguson BarryM. Fox lV JamesR.Hedges, WernerH. Kramanky* AbbyLeigh. WilliamS.Lieberman MichaelLynne lrisMarden 0rentreich Catherine Elizabeth Rohatyn* Sadaka JaneDresner AllenLeeSessoms Michael Steinberg JeanneC.Thayer* AndreaWoodner *Emeriti

D r r w l n g C cn te r Pu b llc.tlo n s Editor AdamLehner,Executive Des,gner LucDerycke, Coordinotor JoannaBerman. TheDrawingCenter 35 WoosterStreet NewYork,NY10013 Tel[212]219-2166 Fax(212)966-2976 gcenter.org www.drawin o 2m5 TheDrawing Center

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