Wandem

Art

-

DePaul Art Museum

Name/Title

Wandem

Entry/Object ID

2016.09

Description

Green rectangular textile with a strip down the center of a lighter green with text.

Artwork Details

Medium

ink watercolor on cotton

Context

Mirra is a conceptual artist whose minimalist works address personal and narrative themes from mapping and topology to childhood. Mirra works in film, video, audio recordings, and artist books, but is best known for her textile-based objects and installations which make use of materials that evoke a sense of nostalgia and a connection to the natural environment. Referenced in the description of Embroidered Grid (2010), Mirra translates the rhythms of repetitive labor into her process and most notably into her stitch work. This sense of rhythmic contemplation expresses itself in a long banner of stitched, vibrant teal, cotton titled Wandem (2000). Manually typed with type writer keys, the text seen in Wandem (2000), and the interpretation of the text, is masked by the possible mistranslation from English to German. The word ‘wandem’ has been translated to mean ‘to stroll’ or ‘to move’, and other parts of the text translate directly to ‘left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot’ providing enough context to feel the sense of walking down the strip of darker cotton that cuts the long teal rectangle into two.

Acquisition

Accession

2016.07-09

Acquisition Method

Gift

Credit Line

Collection of DePaul Art Museum, Gift of Nancy and Robert Mollers

Made/Created

Artist

Mirra, Helen

Date made

2000

Ethnography

Notes

North America United States

Inscription/Signature/Marks

Type

Inscription

Transcription

Wandern ist lauft. Lauft ist kunst. Lauft ist wissenschaft. Ein Fue vor dem andern. Andern eder tramping. Reisen oder verreisend. Verreisend oder wandernd afoot. Schleppen durch oder entlang waldlande verfolgt. Linker Fuss, Recht Fuss, Linker Fuss, Recht Fuss. Laufen entlang. Folgende karte. Laufen entland. Wie entfernt. Laufen entlang. Wieriel Forderng. Linker Fuss, Recht Fuss, Linker Fuss, Recht Fuss, Linker Fuss, Recht Fuss

Language

German

Translation

Roaming is walking. Walking is art. Walking is a science. One foot after the other. Stepping or tramping. Traveling or journeying. Journeying or wandering. Dragging through the forests, pursued. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot. Walking along. How far? Walking along How much longer? Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot.

Notes

Inscription Type: black ink

Lexicon

LOC Thesaurus for Graphic Materials

Textile art, Environmental art

Dimensions

Dimension Description

sheet

Width

5 in

Length

36-1/2 in

Exhibition

For Chicago, With Chicago