NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
"(An) Aesthetics of Absence - Une esthétique de l’absence"
University of Toronto
March 8 - 12, 2012
For a conference entitled the “(An)Aesthetic of Absence,” held at the University of Toronto, three sets of windows were used. Overlooking the city, with Toronto’s landmark space needle in the distance, a large Japanese ensō—a circle representing emptiness—was placed onto the glass. This calligraphic mark, signifying “nothing,” contained within it the word “absence” translated into multiple languages:բyoxluq; eza; 缺席; fravær; Abwesenheit; अनुपस्थितिթ; trūkums; അഭാവത്തിൽ; ոausência; vắng mặt; ukungabikho…նբացակայություն
In another room, the familiar binary—ABSENCE / PRESENCE—was turned on its head, as it was twelve times slightly mis-represented as, for instance, PRESENCE / ABSINTHE; PRECIOUS / ABSENCE; PRESENCE / ABSTINENCE; PRECIPICE / ABSENCE…
Finally, in a room looking directly onto one of the university’s historic Romanesque buildings, transparencies were placed on the windows with printed images of that adjacent building’s prominent architectural features visually aligning. In addition, aerial views of the university were included, with the bold words NEITHER HERE NOR THERE dis-orientingly labeling something of the setting itself, pointing to an absence between the site and its citations.
In another room, the familiar binary—ABSENCE / PRESENCE—was turned on its head, as it was twelve times slightly mis-represented as, for instance, PRESENCE / ABSINTHE; PRECIOUS / ABSENCE; PRESENCE / ABSTINENCE; PRECIPICE / ABSENCE…
Finally, in a room looking directly onto one of the university’s historic Romanesque buildings, transparencies were placed on the windows with printed images of that adjacent building’s prominent architectural features visually aligning. In addition, aerial views of the university were included, with the bold words NEITHER HERE NOR THERE dis-orientingly labeling something of the setting itself, pointing to an absence between the site and its citations.
- A related publication on this installation:
“Seeing In Plain Sight—Installations in Flight,” University of Toronto Quarterly (Fall 2014). Vol. 83, No. 3: 606-624.
Copyright © 2015 Clark Lunberry. All rights reserved.