2024-08-16 Preview: Number of People Number of People (work in progress), 2024 Mechanically altered inkjet prints on tarpaulin, wood, metal “Number of People” are playful, yet opaque “tableaux”, with elements of typography, deliberate emptiness, construction, reproduction and awkward manual retracing. We may be reminded of placeholders (the printed “oOo” placeholders for “People”), actual task performance (the tentatively cut holes for the heads and arms), behavioral research (the printed violet spray spot in the work “10 People”), game theory in contemporary societies and of the construction of meaning. Its format is based on the footprint of a medium-sized passenger lift, with your maximum permitted number of “people” (oOo), which are each shown with one circle (O) for the head and two for the arms (oo). Awkwardly cutting out along given lines also brings back memories of completing tasks in kindergarten craft lessons, of “drawing by numbers”, or cutting out salt dough shapes in MrBeast’s “Squid Games”. The partially visible and slightly translucent wooden tension constructions are also metaphorically legible and integral Components of the works in this series. Here are some studio views (2024) of this work in progress. 13 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm | 10 People, 210 x 336 x 3 cm 10 People, 210 x 336 x 3 cm 10 People, 210 x 336 x 3 cm (detail) 10 People, 210 x 336 x 3 cm (detail) 7 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm 7 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm 13 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm 13 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm (detail) 13 People, 240 x 160 x 3 cm (detail) Work in progress Work in progress 10 People, 210 x 336 x 3 cm (click on images for larger versions) At exhibitions, these works are all shown hanging on the wall. They also exist as half format versions, with openings for smaller humans, as a part of their playing with scale. Below is an example: 9 People (50% scale) 120 x 80 cm (instead of 240 x 160 cm)