Pen and Pencil | Tumi Magnússon

Pigment print on self adhesive vinyl, 4.85 x 11.5 m. Animation video. Paintbox, Copenhagen 2004

A red pencil and a green pen were scanned directly into the computer. The image of the pencil was enlarged and stretched to fit the dimensions of the main wall of the gallery. It was stretched sideways, so the pencil became immensely fat. Seen from the front the image resembled a huge colour field painting, but when seen from the end of the wall the image recovered some of its original pencil properties. This effect has reference to the stretched skull in Hans Holbein’s painting “The Ambassadors” from 1533.

The image of the green pen was scaled so its width fitted a video screen/projection. It was animated to move downwards through the screen in three minute loops. The pen was also stretched lengthwise so that most of the time the video appears like a still image in different green shades. Every three minutes the ends of the pen are seen running across the screen revealing its mundane nature.

Pen and Pencil, installation view, Paintbox, Copenhagen