Josef Bauer
born in 1934 in Wels, Austria; died in 2022 in Linz, Austria
ZEIT (Objekte aus der Serie A), 1990
Object made of wood, MDF board and paint, 2 parts
59 × 120 × 2 cm (total)
Acquisition evn collection 2014
Inv. No. 0279ab
The Z is at the beginning and to the left side. Its black, upper horizontal bar is elongated downward through a sharp angle. Someone might see a number 7 – but it has a rather unusual continuation. The lower bar points in a straight line to the right, in strict parallel to its upper brother, but considerably longer than the design of the letter. It appears as if, arriving at the bottom, the Z is accelerating. At the same time, at the end of its path, one can make out the neck of an overturned, second letter, a T fallen 90 degrees. Without difficulty, we can read in the abbreviation the word “Zeit” (time). The ability to easily decode abbreviations is one of the idiosyncrasies of human reading ability. Vowels that are left out are easier to replace. Both of the consonants contour the outer corners like a picture, lending structure as well as a lapsed span of time. Josef Bauer uses this effect. He is an artist who broaches self-referencing in language in his oeuvre. The term “script-picture” describes the bi-polarity with which the objects can be encountered. They activate a puzzle-effect, a decision whether a word or a wall-sculpture is visible in the formation. It is impossible to see both at the same time, the wall-object as picture and as word, though the latter is stretched (through the length of its starting letter) and shortened (through the absence of vowels) at the same time.