Drawing a Cat
Stephen Richardson (La Trobe University)
a small square wooden box
on a table with a lid
a hammer
four nails
a blank sheet of paper
and a lump of charcoal
a label with lines of instructions
is glued to the side of the box
PLACE THE PAPER AND CHARCOAL INSIDE
USING THE HAMMER AND NAILS
SEAL DOWN THE LID
AND SHAKE THE BOX
AS MUCH AND AS OFTEN
AS YOU WOULD LIKE
THE BOX IS NEVER TO BE OPENED
on the top of the box
is glued another label
INSIDE IS A DRAWING OF A CAT
Stephen Richardson is completing a PhD in visual art at La Trobe University. He is a practising visual artist and holds a BAFA and MVA. His creative works span film, photography, text, and installations. He has exhibited locally and in France, Italy, and New York.
Background to the work:
I have written this as part of my PhD studies in experimental visual art. My research talks to the future of visual art. Could it be that artworks in any physical form have become objects of nostalgia? With the aid of a novel manifesto, I am exploring the potential for the removal of the physical visual art object and its replacement with a cognitive visual art object in this practice-led research.
See http://www.cognitivemanifesto.com
Thesis title: Neo Post-Object Art: Theory and Praxis
