Index II thumbnail 1
Not currently on display at the V&A

Index II

Drawing
1999 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of a number of works in which Gerard Quinn 'recycles' his drawings to create a form that is simultaneously sculptural and graphic. The drawings may be maps, annotations, sketches of landscape, and so on. They may be on a variety of paper and sometimes date back several years. Quinn cut them into small strips and rolled them tightly into little scrolls. He then arranged these in close-fitting parallel rows within the frame, so that only a fragment of each drawing is presented to the viewer. The pattern evokes a variety of formal precedents, such as oriental scroll paintings, prayer scrolls tucked into temple walls, libraries or archives, esoteric or coded messages. Taken as a whole, the piece suggests the vast resources of historical documentation to which we have increasing access, yet which remains inscrutably enigmatic. They also remind us that the environmentally/politically correct re-cycling of materials is a process through which artists often arrive at their most interesting works.


Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleIndex II (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Graphite on paper, cut and rolled
Brief description
Drawing by Gerard Quinn, 'Index II 1999'.
Physical description
Rectangualar object glued or pasted onto support, leaving margins of 15/20cm all round; cut paper work. The object composed of tiny scrolls of paper of different kinds - many of them tracing paper, covered in drawing, those to right side of object worked very heavily and are dark grey in colour, those to left side more variably worked but all lighter than those of left; this division through colour is vertical through the centre of the object. The scrolls are laid side by side, horizontally, and in exact parallel columns from top to bottom of the overall surface.
Dimensions
  • Without frame, sight height: 75.5cm
  • Without frame, sight width: 121.2cm
  • With frame height: 79.7cm
  • With frame width: 125.4cm
measurement inside frame includes margin round object
Production typeUnique
Subjects depicted
Summary
This is one of a number of works in which Gerard Quinn 'recycles' his drawings to create a form that is simultaneously sculptural and graphic. The drawings may be maps, annotations, sketches of landscape, and so on. They may be on a variety of paper and sometimes date back several years. Quinn cut them into small strips and rolled them tightly into little scrolls. He then arranged these in close-fitting parallel rows within the frame, so that only a fragment of each drawing is presented to the viewer. The pattern evokes a variety of formal precedents, such as oriental scroll paintings, prayer scrolls tucked into temple walls, libraries or archives, esoteric or coded messages. Taken as a whole, the piece suggests the vast resources of historical documentation to which we have increasing access, yet which remains inscrutably enigmatic. They also remind us that the environmentally/politically correct re-cycling of materials is a process through which artists often arrive at their most interesting works.
Collection
Accession number
E.462-1999

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJanuary 18, 2000
Record URL
Download as: JSON