personal projects/statements (after Lawrence Weiner)
in 1968, the American conceptual artist, Lawrence Weiner, published a small book containing 24 instructive statements, each describing a process oriented gesture that would result in an artwork if the gesture was executed by following its instructions. This book, called Statements, 1968 is recognized as a seminal conceptual artwork in book format.
text-based / web-based
started: 2023 — completed: 2023
Cover of Statements, 1968 by Lawrence Weiner
intent of the work
included in Lawrence Weiner's 1968 book was a Statement of Intent that included a set of three governances over the 24 statements contained in this unique publication. these three rules dictate that each statement could one, be constructed by the artist, Weiner himself, two that the work could be fabricated without the artist, or that three, each statement could stand on its own, meaning no work would need be built. Weiner declared that whichever direction was chosen by the receiver of the statement, it would be recognized as equal in value as an artwork with the intent of the artist intact.
Lawrence Weiner creating one of his statements in 1979.
fabricating the 24 statements
in 2023, some 55 years after they were first created, i fabricated the 12 general statements, and the 12 specific statements contained in Lawrence Weiner’s book, Statements in collaboration with the DALL·E 2 AI system, in the creation of 24 new and original artworks by Lawrence Weiner. This project is a three way partnership between myself (David Look), Lawrence Weiner, and the deep learning model DALL·E 2. These works, in accordance to Weiner's Statement of Intent are equal and consistent with the original intent of Lawrence Weiner.
One of 24 statements in Statements, 1968
minting the new statements using nfts
these new Lawrence Weiner works were created between the dates and hours of January 7th, 12:16pm EST and January 8th, 2:58pm EST, 2023. Each work was minted using the American online non-fungible token marketplace, OpenSea, as part of the collection titled, Statements. This collection of fabricated images is the first ever Web 3 iteration of Lawrence Weiner's work for the age of generative, intelligent technology and decentralized ownership..
extending the statements
each nft associated with the Statements project are bound by the smart contract associated with it, as well as the terms of use as outlined here. Any use or display of these statement-based, individual artworks in future publications and/or exhibitions will publicly recognize their respective owners.
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