Walker and Walker
Walker and Walker
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ILL SEEN, ILL HEARD

2008, neon and reflection

The neon 'Ill Seen, Ill Heard' stems from a slight alteration of the title of one of Samuel Beckett’s last works, a short story called “Ill Seen, Ill Said” (1980-1).

This neon work consists of the words “What what?, Where where?” fabricated in reverse. Fixed to a wall, opposite a window, the viewer reads the text as a reflection. The repetition of each of the words gives it somewhat of a frenetic quality, suggesting a sense of urgency, demanding a repetition of the initial direction, that warranted the response in the first place. As if it went unheard or more appropriately ill heard and indeed as a consequence poorly understood. It alludes to an event that goes unwitnessed and as such remains elusive.

Installation, Sheppard Fine Arts, Reno, USA

See also
Ill seen, ill heard