Elizabeth Gower "he loves me, he loves me not"
AC Institute
This event has ended.
AC [Direct] I and II presents Australian artist Elizabeth Gower's installation project he loves me, he loves me not along the outer walls of the galleries.
The familiar phrase "he loves me, he loves me not" is written 20,097 times symbolizing the number of days Gower calculates she has lived and asked the question. Written in white chalk directly onto and entirely covering the black walls, this repeated statement is ephemeral and exists only for the duration of the exhibition. The repetitious process is simultaneously obsessive, cathartic and physically draining. As is the continual speculation of whether "he loves me" or "loves me not.".
The 'he' is generic, representing the fathers, brothers, boyfriends, lovers, husbands and sons in a woman's life, as well as the critics, the audience, the colleagues, the bosses, the friends and deities. This private exchange of intimacy, removed from a particular speaker/reference, becomes a universal construct or consciousness. Explored with each reiteration and inscription is the transience of language, its instability and capacity to fluctuate. Also within he loves me, he loves me not, a process of synthesis and transformation takes place whereby the concept's part–the fragment or detail–is integrated to form a transcendent whole.
Media
Schedule
from February 19, 2009 to March 14, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-02-19 from 18:00 to 20:00