Fábián Erika

On the road for 65 days
chalk drawing created by almost a million tiny dots

On the road for 65 days - 112x53cm, Drawing, 2015


private art collection

On the road for 65 days - 112x53cm, Drawing, 2015


private art collection

chalk drawing created by almost a million tiny dots

On the road for 65 days - Process

On the road for 65 days - Process

chalk drawing created by almost a million tiny dots

On the road for 65 days - Process

On the road for 65 days - Process

chalk drawing created by almost a million tiny dots

On the road for 65 days - Process

On the road for 65 days - Process

chalk drawing created by almost a million tiny dots

On the road for 65 days - Detail

On the road for 65 days - Detail

On the Road for 65 days
65 days, 132 hours, 5 minutes, 40 seconds, 112 cm several millions of tiny dots
The work, the project presented here is a roll of paper on which separate, monochrome, pulsating bands are visible with an easily perceptible rhythm and consisting of tiny dots. I began working on the project 65 days ago, completing one band each day, thus it is possible that certain zones show periodic repetition.
The dots I placed have direction, serving as a record of the physical and mental factors that affected me, my inner thoughts and states of mind, as well as some tiny vibrations (such as my heartbeat). Each is a kind of paraph, simultaneously displaying the effects of deterministic laws, that is, the systemic order of me creating, placing dots every day, and also of randomness, that is, how I place these dots, at what time of the day and how many on the given day. Therefore, one is a systemic relationship, while the other reveals an infinite number of variations. Thus, the dots are traces for me, which transform into signals, like the trace of the beast does for a hunter. At the same time, they are a recording of my memories, current moments, a writing without letters, a code registering my experiences in life.
The dots, as a collection of signs, fixed and continuous, the set of dots becomes shapeless, yet markedly distinct, like handwriting having a strong structural character, and the message is easy to read. This mode of creation is also a game, in which the dot is a clear signal. Art is a language, where the dots act as the decoder. They have a strong rhythm, which can also be traced acoustically. The range of dots records the passage of time, since each mark is left almost in a fraction of a second.
You could also say that each day, I am transfigured into a plotter device, a Morse telegraph, printing myself to allow the spiritual content to be revealed by mechanical repetition. The constant monotony of the creative work, the repetitive creative gestures calls attention to internal contents; if you zoom in on the fine dots, you can discover their individual differences. However, this work is only about self exploration, but also about recording the passage of time, in which a documentation of the material world’s fleeting nature also appears. In our accelerated, action-packed world, people’s threshold for stimulation has greatly increased; therefore, we desire impulses that satisfy our adrenaline addiction, whether in art or in everyday life. Thus, we need films, we need works of art that have a strong, stimulating effect on us. Primarily, humans understand two types of reward systems. One is the system of immediate rewards, where the goal is to obtain an immediate benefit, the other is the system of delayed rewards, which requires strong self-control, and which applied to the concept of my project, which sais that the benefit, spiritual nourishment yields long-term returns, and is in no way result-oriented. The creative process requires self-discipline, humility, commitment, and perseverance every day to create, regardless of holidays or time of day.
The main message of work is provocative slowness, as opposed to the rhythm of today’s world. Slowness provides the rhythm of human life, giving a task to spectators. Our hearts beating are an essential internal noise in people which, if its volume were to increase, would drive us mad, since its tempo is much slower than what we are used to today.
In this project experiencing a life lived also plays an important role; I would compare it to a pilgrimage, where every day is a step driving me closer to the final goal.
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