KASPER PINCIS: C'EST PAS SAGE

10 - 24 July 2015

In the last two years Kasper Pincis has focussed on two aspects of his work: firstly the series To Fill a Void, 14 sheets of newsprint folded to fit a typewriter and covered by the letter 'O', obsessively repeated until the void within it fills with ink. The overall effect is a frieze of repeated blocks generated by running each sheet diagonally through the typewriter. A close examination of these blocks reveals the uniqueness of each pattern caused by the accumulation of ink, blotting the 'Os'.

Parallel to working on this series Pincis has started using the photocopier – like the typewriter a machine closely connected to the idea of bureaucracy and text reproduction. Discussing these two strands of his practice Pincis writes: 'My recent work has been increasingly concerned with the exploration and dissection of time. From the supposed relationship of time with productivity, using the quantifiable activity of typing on a typewriter, to possibly contradictory attempts to capture a second of movement on the glass of the photocopier. Once it is captured, the movement is no longer, although it has been traced to provide evidence of some activity now confined to the past. For a long time I have been interested in economy of means of expression, dots, lines, letters; time is something that can build these up to create density, darkness and contrast like developing a photograph; it can build up huge stalagmites from tiny drops over millions of years.'

The economy of means of expression mentioned by Pincis encourages him to find new approaches to conventional media, as art writer Gülnaz Can Pincis observes 'Kasper Pincis’ relationship with his partners in art, mainly the typewriter, photocopier and paper, is a very equal one. Sometimes not knowing exactly what will come out, or how long it will take, may create an uncertainty in the roles, which also sounds like the exciting dynamic of their relationship. He may type the same letter nearly two million times, and spend almost a year’s time to convince his partner to get there. He is patient. He breaks time, sometimes paper, and he almost breaks machines. This is a way to negotiate for him.'

Kasper Pincis studied at Camberwell College of Art, Goldsmiths, and the Royal Academy Schools, and his work has been shown nationally and internationally, being acquired by collections such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry (Miami, Florida). Pincis was shortlisted for the Jerwood Drawing Prize 2012 and is featured in the book Typewriter Art: A Modern Anthology by Barrie Tullet, published by Laurence King in May 2014.