- Venue
- Multiplied
- Location
- London
In October 2012 The WITH Collective, an anonymous art collective that creates time-based experiential “solutions” on commission – such as doing nothing on your behalf, being in love with you or working for free on something you really love – produced a new limited edition print, We Have Accidentally Damaged This Limited Edition on Your Behalf, exclusively for Christie’s Multiplied 2012 art fair.
The pristine white surface of each print has been blind embossed with the edition’s title, all in capitals, occupying two thirds of the unduly white card. Resting inconspicuously above it, the collective’s trademark four-line logo. As a result of this inkless process, the text can be seen protruding from the paper, raised above the surface. Thus far, the prints fulfil the requirements of a limited edition. However, true to their time-based experiential solutions concept and to the edition’s title, each print has a unique damage mark – a coffee stain, a footprint or an ink splatter. The damage varies in degrees of subtlety from barely visible stains to intentional dark blotches covering a whole area of the print.
It is precisely with this gesture that the collective aims to bring into question the nature, value and reproducibility of limited editions; what could be seen as damage, also makes each print completely unique. The result is now in fact closer to a monotype – were it not for the mechanical repetition of the text, each print would be one of a kind. The accidental damage implied in the title, which would normally ruin an edition, now adds value. They’ve transformed failure into a desirable quality, as the buyer is asked to select the desired “damage”.
The WITH Collective normally creates limited editions as a way of rendering their intangible solutions visible. A typical example is the silkscreen print We’re Really Happy For You. As in most of their previous editions they have effectively transferred their concepts to paper in a transparent way, describing the solution, representing it through language. However, their editions dating from 2010 to the present did not enact the solution, until now. Indicating a positive departure from previous work, this edition does not reference a previously available solution. It was created to exist only in print, apropos of the art fair, and instead it captures the event – the moment in time – of each accident. The choice of “accidental damage” inflicted upon each print is related to everyday objects existent in most printmaking studios, or in fact in most environments: accidents waiting to happen. And yet, the print becomes a “solution”, because the collective has done the work for us. The have spared us the accident and taken care of the damage, and it looks uncannily fascinating.
*review first published in Art in Print’s New Editions magazine. March – April 2013.
