One of the first things we did as a Premium group was contributing to Marres’ “Invisible Collection” series. In the series, Marres’ contributors record an audio description of personally important works of art. This can help a sight-impaired audience find new connections with otherwise inaccessible works, but it also asks the contributor to rethink their own relationship to their favorite paintings, sculptures and installations. For our team, it was a way to connect through sharing these very private relationships we’ve built with works of art.
I decided to base my contribution on Naum Gabo’s “Head No. 2” – a large steel sculpture resembling a human bust. At the time, I spent a lot of effort trying to describe the ways in which Gabo’s steel planes resemble a person, and how such a technical material becomes personable. But what strikes me most when I re-listen to my submission now is how I am describing not what the steel is doing in Gabo’s sculpture, but what people do every day – people sit in wait, people hunch over, and look kind of tired. In this sense, contributing to the Invisible Collection has helped me see Gabo’s sculpture in a new, even more personal light. (from one of our team members)
Link to the ‘Invisible collection’: https://marres.org/en/programmas/invisible-collection/
Link to the artwork: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/gabo-head-no-2-t01520
