item details
NameI exist I am not another I am
ProductionPeter Robinson; artist; 2001
Classificationcolour prints, works of art, colour photographs
Materialsdye, photographic gelatin, photographic paper
Materials Summarycolour photograph, type C print
Techniquescolour photography, chromogenic processes
DimensionsImage: 1190mm (width), 2195mm (height)
Registration NumberO.032573
Credit linePurchased 2009
Overview
Peter Robinson created this work for Divine Comedy, his part in New Zealand’s inaugural representation at the 2001 Venice Biennale. It uses the universal vocabulary of binary code – patterns of zeros and ones – to conceal quotes from existentialist thinkers.
Divine Comedy contemplated the concept of nothingness. It drew on Western theories of time, space, and matter, including the writings of philosophers Dante Alighieri (author of the poem Divine Comedy) and Jean-Paul Sartre, as well as scientist and black-hole theorist Stephen Hawking.
In the exhibition, Robinson also critiqued the lack of content in some forms of art, including minimalism and 1960s optical art. At the same time, he used those styles in his own work.