No Man's Land
Drawing
2001 (made)
2001 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
As a student of architecture Neil Wenman was interested in the theory and philosophy of architecture as much as in actually making buildings. This drawing was inspired by Wenman’s visit to Berlin to meet Herman Koch, a former member of the Stasi, the much-feared security police of communist East Germany. As a young cartographer in 1961, Koch had the task of mapping the location of the Berlin Wall. In 1990 he managed its demolition.
From conversations with Koch, Wenman developed the concept of ‘mapping’ the history of Berlin in a single drawing. The drawing shows former land use along one stretch of the wall. A graveyard, water wells and the sites of former houses are indicated through rectangular apertures of varying sizes, layered one beneath another.
A book by Wenman, Writing the City: Das Berliner Palimpsest, accompanies the drawing (Museum no. E.3022-2004).
From conversations with Koch, Wenman developed the concept of ‘mapping’ the history of Berlin in a single drawing. The drawing shows former land use along one stretch of the wall. A graveyard, water wells and the sites of former houses are indicated through rectangular apertures of varying sizes, layered one beneath another.
A book by Wenman, Writing the City: Das Berliner Palimpsest, accompanies the drawing (Museum no. E.3022-2004).
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Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Title | No Man's Land (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Pencil on cut and layered paper |
| Brief description | 'No Man's Land' drawing and cut paper work, by Neil Wenman; United Kingdom, 2001 |
| Physical description | Rectangular landscape format work on multiple sheets, each cut into in various places and suspended one behind the other in a deep, double-sided frame. The sheets behind those on the two outer surfaces can be seen successively through the apertures cut away as part of the image. The overall appearance is of a long strip of tiny, slightly less small, and then larger 'windows' in horizontal, parallel lines, partly evenly spaced, partly with irregular gaps between, surrounded on upper and lower margins by a wide expanse of white card, deeper at the bottom than at the top. A wider, longer aperture is situated slightly to left of centre below the massed 'window' apertures. There are also drawn lines, some of which broken, as part of the image. In the larger cut-away areas dark, grey-black swirling patterns can be seen. |
| Dimensions |
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| Production type | Unique |
| Gallery label | Wenman's drawing was inspired by conversations with cartographer Herman Koch. In 1961, Koch had been responsible for mapping the location of the Berlin Wall. Wenman's aim here was to 'map' the history of Berlin in a single layered drawing, showing former land use, such as housing, wells, and graveyards, along part of the wall.(2007) |
| Credit line | Given by the artist |
| Object history | Given by the artist, 2004 |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Places depicted | |
| Summary | As a student of architecture Neil Wenman was interested in the theory and philosophy of architecture as much as in actually making buildings. This drawing was inspired by Wenman’s visit to Berlin to meet Herman Koch, a former member of the Stasi, the much-feared security police of communist East Germany. As a young cartographer in 1961, Koch had the task of mapping the location of the Berlin Wall. In 1990 he managed its demolition. From conversations with Koch, Wenman developed the concept of ‘mapping’ the history of Berlin in a single drawing. The drawing shows former land use along one stretch of the wall. A graveyard, water wells and the sites of former houses are indicated through rectangular apertures of varying sizes, layered one beneath another. A book by Wenman, Writing the City: Das Berliner Palimpsest, accompanies the drawing (Museum no. E.3022-2004). |
| Bibliographic reference | Owens, Susan, The Art of Drawing British Masters and Methods since 1600, V&A Publishing, London, 2013, p. 196-197, fig. 156 |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.3021-2004 |
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| Record created | June 11, 2004 |
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