“To Enter a Space” analyses the mechanisms of exhibiting and the autonomy of a work in itself. It is a theory of physics that the very act of observing changes the thing that is being observed. Consisting thin paper sheets and sharp metal blades, this installation explores this idea through the circulation of air produced by the movements of people visiting. This makes the viewer a co-author in what is ultimately a work of generative art, where their presence as observers determines the shape and extent of incisions made by the cutters on the hanging paper.
Whether intentional or not, the audience influences the outcome of “To Enter A Space” for its duration, while exposing the so-called “white cube” as being a mere construction. Nothing exists within a vacuum, and the resulting cuts, slits and fissures on the otherwise blank, ceiling-to-floor pieces are its proof. Hence, the work renders visible the structural violence of the act of exhibiting, while revealing Fuzinato’s critical approach to ideas of power and institutions, as well as their effects on social norms and behaviour—and vice versa.
Photo credit: C. Büchler, D. Fuzinato