AS LONG AS IT LASTS - as part of the WDWXXV edition set

AS LONG AS IT LASTS - as part of the WDWXXV edition set, 2015

Lawrence Weiner

Print
80 x 20 cm / 31.5 x 7.87 inch
Edition of 15 copies, signed and numbered by the artists on a certificate (with the exception of Lawrence Weiner)
€3630

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Medium: 10 lambda prints in plexi box frame
This edition is a suite of 10 prints each measuring 20 x 80 cm in a plexi box frame
The Lawrence Weiner print that is part of this set is unsigned
Ships from the Netherlands in 5 to 10 business days

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Partner: Witte de With

about this work

In 1993, artist Lawrence Weiner made a work on the 185 meter high Euromast in Rotterdam as part of a group exhibition at Witte de With on painting and architecture. He painted the phrase AS LONG AS IT LASTS – which also became the title of the exhibition – up the length of the tower, making it one of the largest works Weiner has realized to date.

Conceived of as a recurring work, AS LONG AS IT LASTS reappeared in Rotterdam inside the pedestrian tunnel of the central station, as part of the citywide exhibition Melanchotopia in 2011. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Witte de With, Weiner’s words aptly articulate the ever-changing modus of operation of the institution. Each reiteration of the work prolongs the statement it embodies, resulting in a conceptual short-circuit which is forever finite. AS LONG AS IT LASTS is a cautious slogan, not quite pessimistic, but rather a firm reminder that one should never make assumptions about the future.

The photograph used on the lighbox and this edition was made by Bob Goedewaagen, and used with the kind permission of Lawrence Weiner.

This edition is part of a set that was produced in the context of Witte de With’s In Light Of 25 Years. On the occasion of its 25th anniversary, Witte de With examined its history, dedicating its ground-floor gallery to a series of commissioned presentations by a select group of contemporary artists. Each participant created an image-based work that analyzed certain sediments of contemporary art history. Presented on a large-scale double-sided light box these anniversary commissions were visible to the city day and night. Throughout 2015, In Light Of 25 Years functioned as a space for artists and curators to respond to developments in contemporary art, its landscape and possibilities, departing from Witte de With’s past program.

WDWXXV brings together the ten In Light Of 25 Years commissions. Presented in a slim Plexiglas box frame, inspired by the light box itself, this limited edition portfolio features ten high quality prints by the participating artists Özlem Altin, Wineke Gartz, Camille Henrot, Germaine Kruip, Mahony, Raimundas Malašauskas, Zin Taylor, Freek Wambacq, Lawrence Weiner, and Xu Zhen. Have a look at the individual artist pages to read more about each specific edition.

about Lawrence Weiner

Lawrence Weiner is one of the central figures in the formation of conceptual art in the 1960s. Weiner’s early work included experiments with systematic approaches to shaped canvases and later, featured squares cut out of carpeting or walls. A turning point came in 1968, when he created a work for an outdoor exhibition organized by Siegelaub at Windham College in Putney, Vermont. Weiner proposed to define the space for his work with rather unobtrusive means: “A series of stakes set in the ground at regular intervals to form a rectangle with twine strung from stake to stake to demark a grid—a rectangle removed from this rectangle.” When students cut down the twine because it hampered their access across the campus lawn, Weiner realized that his piece could have been even less obtrusive: viewers could have experienced the same effect Weiner desired simply by reading a verbal description of the work. Not long after this, Weiner turned to language as the primary vehicle for his work, concluding in 1968 that:
“(1) The artist may construct the piece.
(2) The piece may be fabricated.
(3) The piece may not be built.
[Each being equal and consistent with the intent of the artist, the decision as to condition rests with the receiver upon the occasion of receivership.]”

The wall installations that have been a primary medium for Weiner since the 1970s consist solely of words in a nondescript lettering painted on walls. The lettering need not be done by the Weiner himself, as long as the sign painter complies with the instructions dictated by the artist. Although this body of work focuses on the potential for language to serve as an art form, the subjects of his epigrammatic statements are often materials, or a physical action or process. In the succeeding decades, Weiner explored the interaction of punctuation, shapes, and color to serve as inflections of meaning for his texts.

(courtesy of the Guggenheim Collection)

Major solo exhibitions of Weiner’s work have been mounted at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Institute of Contemporary Arts, London; Dia Center for the Arts, New York; Musée d’Art Contemporain, Bordeaux; SF MOMA; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Philadelphia Museum of Art; Museum Ludwig, Cologne; Museo Tamayo Arte Contemporáneo in Mexico City; Tate Gallery, London; and the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York.

Laurence Weiner is represented by the following galleries;
click through to discover more of his work.

Lisson Gallery, London / Milan / New York

Dvir Gallery, Tel Aviv / Brussels

Marian Goodman Gallery, New York / Paris / London

Regen projects, Los Angeles

i8 Gallery, Reykjavík

Mai 36 Galerie, Zurich

Blain Southern, London

Learn more about this artist