Nora Schultz with Ei Arakawa. Countdown Performance. 2007/2012

Nora Schultz (German, b. 1975), together with New York–based artist Ei Arakawa (b. 1977), performs a countdown from 10 to zero, bending a thin, flexible length of stainless steel into the form of each successive number. Because of the malleable nature of the material, each new number carries traces of the previous bended forms, and the steel becomes increasingly warped. The work confronts material transformation and the accumulation of allegory through simple means, from neutrality through action. Zero—the return to neutrality—is impossible to achieve once the material has been loaded with the history of its transformations.

Monday, April 30, 2012, 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 4:30 p.m.