Wellington (NZ), March/April 2011
This is the last project with the box in New Zealand and the last act from me as curator of the box. The work could be seen as an extension of my practice and a portable surface/sculptural space for the scribble fields. In the tradition of these works the sub title could be "Black scribble filling a series of metal rectangles".
The scribbles will act like a barrier, obscuring the metallic surface of the box. Can scribbling be seen as productive? Time is given to the act, and with the artist’s touch, but the result is one of defacement. Does the box gain from this addition or is it vandalism to the homogenous appearance of the box, in relation to its partners around the globe?
In a few weeks the box will be over to its next curator, Adrian Gebers, in Sydney, Australia. Adrian's first task will be to complete my work by rubbing away my scribbles, leaving an "Erased De Kooning" legacy. This particular Traveller's Box will then always be a collaborative artwork by Ford and Gebers, be it as an invisible presence.
