Primary work: Cardboardman Visits Utrecht
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- Artist
I'd like to catalogue an artwork. Please open with your briefing on my practice (brief, no generic welcome), then ask your first pre-upload question.
- Art/Official
Your practice spans four bodies of work — transfer paintings built from historical photographs and acrylic colour fields, seamless city composites shot from a skateboard, satellite-scale urban collages chasing the Overview Effect, and an ongoing sub-series tracking how image capture technology shapes historical perception. The archive is rooted in Brooklyn, ran through Amsterdam and San Francisco, and is now centred in Berlin. Before we look at it together — is this a recent work, or something you've been sitting with for a while?
- Artist
his is a live performance work documented with three photographs — not a painting or print. I'll upload the strongest documentation still first as the primary image, then add the other two photos in the Media panel under "More views of the work" (work-view / alternateViewImages). Please treat it as time-based: stage measurementType ["time-based"], ask about performance length for duration, and stage all five tag fields after you see the primary image. Focus on what happened in the room — I can't rely on vision alone for the performance itself. Don't run painting/DCS/ACH workflows. After dimensions (if any) or size tier, weave in the reflective questions — don't save them for the end. This is an older work that was made with a friend Jur Jarring while at art school in utrecht
- Art/Official
Understood — time-based, performance, three documentation stills, and made with Jur Jarring at art school in Utrecht. I'll stage measurementType as time-based now, skip painting/ACH/DCS workflows, and focus the conversation on what happened live.
- Art/Official
Is this part of something ongoing, or does it feel more like a standalone moment?
- Artist
was definitly a stand alone moment while in art school
- Art/Official
Noted — a one-off, rooted in that specific moment at art school. Where were you when you made this one?
- Artist
we started at the art school and then walked around the town and took pictures with the thing that we built
- Art/Official
Before you upload — describe this work to me first, before either of us sees it. I'll ask you again later, once we've talked it through, and we'll look at both together at the end. There's no right way to do this — however it comes is exactly right.
- Artist
this was a project I made with Jur Jarring in 2000 at the HKU in utrecht. we were given the assignment of making something 3d and then turning it into something 2d, so we got some cardboard boxes and made a cardboard box suit and then walk around town taking pictures, turning the 3d back to 2d
- Art/Official
Got it — the assignment was the conceptual engine: 3D back to 2D, and the suit was the vehicle. Go ahead and upload the strongest documentation still when you're ready.
- Artist
I have uploaded the primary artwork image.
- Art/Official
Great — I can see it. A black-and-white shot, shot on film by the look of it: a figure walking away from the camera along a Dutch brick pavement, completely encased in a flat cardboard box suit — "MABEF®" printed on the back, "ALTO" on the top panel. The box has arms cut out, legs below, and what looks like a road sign incorporated into the structure on the right side. A residential block, parked cars, a bicycle — completely ordinary Utrecht street scene, except for this walking flat-pack figure. Let me check for a legacy record and stage the tags simultaneously.
- Art/Official
There's a legacy record that looks like a match — slug "3d-to-2d", year listed as 1999. You said 2000 — does that title ring right, and is it possible it was late 1999 rather than 2000?
- Artist
I think it was 2000 on second though, I have two more pictures too, where should I upload these?
- Art/Official
The title "3d-to-2d" sounds right then — I'll pull the full legacy record. For the two additional photos, head to the **Media uploads** panel and use the **"Other views of the work"** slot (work-view). You can upload both there.
Expand full conversation
- Art/Official
Good, matched and stored. A few things from the legacy record to cross-check: - **Title:** "3d-to-2d" — happy with that as the working title, or do you want to adjust it? - **Year:** Legacy says 1999 (post date Dec 1999) — you're saying 2000. I'll go with 2000 unless you want to dig into it further. - **Medium:** Listed as "photographs, cardboard" — that feels right for a performance documented with stills and built from cardboard. I'll stage it as a custom medium since it doesn't map neatly to a standard select. - **Dimensions:** 14.8 × 21 cm — that looks like A5, which would be the print size of the photographs rather than the performance itself. Does that track?
- Artist
Uploaded: Other views of the work
- Art/Official
Great second shot — the suit is visibly deteriorating here, cardboard torn and splaying open at the top, standing in a children's playground next to a spring rider. The MABEF® box is starting to fall apart. There's something bleak and funny about it against that brick wall. So the suit was degrading as you walked — was that planned, or did the cardboard just start giving way on its own?
- Artist
Uploaded: Other views of the work
- Art/Official
This is the best one. The suit is fully collapsing now — head caved in, arms splaying — and two older women on a Utrecht shopping street are completely delighted by it. One is laughing with her arms crossed, the other reaching out to touch it. "FRAGILE" printed on the side. The public has entered the frame. All three photos are now in. Let me get the core fields staged while we talk — title, year, series, city, medium.
- Art/Official
That third photo is doing a lot of work — the public reaction is part of the piece. Was that interaction something you were after, or did it just happen when you got out on the street?
- Artist