Locus Solus (2010)
gabeler.marenka [at] gmail.com
--- On Mon, 30/8/10, Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com wrote:
From: Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com
Subject: Interview
To: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Monday, 30 August, 2010, 0:49
Dear Miss Marenka Gabeler,
We met recently to discuss an artwork you are in the process of forming. You were quite careful to show me an image of a small, though broken, wooden panel and you told me, Marenka, that you were eager to have it repaired.
The image you showed to me was a photograph of a small wooden panel held firmly in place by a vice and weighted from above to prevent it from buckling under the pressure.
I wondered if you could first of all say something about how the panel came to you?
I look forward to hearing from you, Marenka.
Kind Regards
Dr Ernst Spitzberger
Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2010 18:35:13 +0000
From: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: Re: Interview
To: dre.spitzberger@gmail.com
Dear Dr Spitzberger,
Thank you for your mail.
The panel first came into my possession in October 2009. Peter, from the Market Coffee house, had salvaged wood paneling from the Christ Church in Spitalfields.
The church interior was being restored and many old panels were thrown away.
Peter used them to decorate his coffee house and gave me this particular one to paint on.
Marenka Gabeler
On Sat, 4/9/10, Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com wrote:
From: Dr E. Spitzberger
Subject: RE: Interview
To: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Saturday, 4 September, 2010, 21:01
Dear Marenka,
Thank you for your message.
It was interesting to learn that the panel came to you from a man called Peter and that he was connected to a coffee house at Spitalfields Market. You also mentioned that the panel had originated from the Christ Church in Spitalfields, after it had initially been discarded during a restoration period. We can say then that the panel was once a part of a larger collection of panels, and that a decision was once made to throw away the panel. Following this first act of throwing- away, the panel came to peter, after-which, it came to you.
You used the term possession. I found this interesting in relation to another
expression you used: salvaged.
Salvaged comes from the root word salvation, and possession and salvation are
opposites. We can say then that these opposites are united by the panel.
This allows an interesting question to arise. So my next question to you Marenka, will be, what is it about this thrown-away panel that may have possessed and salvaged you?
Kind Regards,
Dr E. Spitzberger
Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2010 11:54:40 +0000
From: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: RE: Interview
To: Dr E. Spitzberger
Dear Dr Spitzberger,
I suppose what possessed me about the panel was an awareness of the life of this panel, that it had had a long history. I felt an awareness of the history of an object. I walked around Hampstead Heath to look at the old oak trees as records suggest that the wood for the panel had come from there. I sat amongst the trees to draw them and observe their lives.
The panel I saw as a new friend. He was a new inhabitant, a living being with his own voice and needs. I don't know if he salvaged me but I wanted to be the one who had salvaged him. I wanted him to be alive and happy.
I felt that by painting a face onto the panel I had revealed the face of the panel, an old man from the past.
Marenka Gabeler
On Tue, 7/9/10, Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com wrote:
From: Dr E. Spitzberger
Subject: RE: Interview
To: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Tuesday, 7 September, 2010, 13:17
Dear Miss Gabeler,
Thank you for your recent letter.
It was interesting to learn more about the panel and it was important to hear how
you perceive and feel towards it.
Quite specifically, it was interesting to learn that you have identified and
engendered the panel as male. Later in the same letter you described an old
man from the past.
Furthermore, you imagine that the male figure you identify in the panel has needs of his own.
What we can say then about this aspect of your speech is that there is an old man from the past with needs.
A new question that has become apparent is, what are the needs of this male from the past that have become important for you in the present?
Yours sincerely,
Dr E. Spitzberger
Date: Wed, 8 Sep 2010 12:30:40 +0000
From: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: RE: Interview
To: Dr E. Spitzberger
Dear Dr Spitzberger,
Thank you for your observations. At the moment the panel is broken into three pieces and feels very defeated. After I painted on it in October last year, the panel had a period of happiness. It/he was part of an art exhibition in and old Georgian house, feeling proud to be exhibited. Another show followed in Amsterdam, last April, where it had a fatal accident, falling from the exhibition wall.
I was careful to bring him back to England, as I did not trust the gallery to care enough for it to have it repaired properly. The people from the gallery were not very sympathetic, didn't want to spend money on repairs and didn't want to get their insurance involved. This must have been very damaging for the panel's self image.
An art conservator is looking after the panel at the moment. Talking about the paneI's needs, I'm sure the panel wants to come back to live. But I'm not sure in what way. Will it be happy being an art piece again? Or was it happiest as a panel in Christ Church? And how do I go about it? Looking at the state of repair at the moment, it is clear that he will never be the same again. The scars are too big to return to its previous state.
Attached to this e-mail you'll find a report from the conservator noting the state of affairs. From this I understand what the panel's needs/requirements are.* But I feel unsure about it.
Kind regards,
Marenka Gabeler
*The current report is in Dutch, to be proposed to the gallery in Amsterdam. I'm waiting for a translation into English, that I will forward you as soon as I have it. My apologies.
On Thu, 9/9/10, Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com wrote:
From: Dr E. Spitzberger
Subject: RE: Interview
To: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Thursday, 9 September, 2010, 23:29
Dear Miss Gabeler,
In your most recent letter, you write of the fatal accident that had caused injury to the panel, who is also an old man.
In your own words, you seemed to be moved by the effort at salvaging and repairing a deflated and fragmented old man.
It was important for you to take the old man into your own care, as you identified your distrust of the people who had not cared enough.
You describe a period of happiness that followed your process of applying paint to the surface of the old man, and you explained that this had served to promote his feelings of self-image. I wondered what image you painted onto the panel?
It was interesting to read the word 'scars' in your most recent letter. We can say that if a scar has formed, then a wound has occurred. I'm interested to hear your views on this aspect of the panel's life.
There was also what we call a parapraxis in your most recent letter. You used the term 'live', though it is possible that you wanted to say 'life'.
You are questioning how best to proceed in taking care of the old man panel and you deduced that he would never be the same again. I am interested to hear what he will never be again.
I look forward to hearing form you and to receiving the English copy of the document you sent to in Dutch.
Your sincerely,
Dr Ernst Spitzberger
Date: Fri, 10 Sep 2010 08:50:40 +0000
From: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Subject: RE: Interview
To: Dr E. Spitzberger
Dear Dr Spitzberger,
Your analyses of the panel has been very helpful.
The image that I painted onto the panel is that of the face of an old man in 'Stil de Grain Yellow'. He wears a white collar. Please see attachment for image.
More and more I start to regard the panel as a serious piece of work. The scars of the wounds seem to become part of its life now and its identity. He will not be the same again as in the way he was before he fell- without the fractures showing where the wood has been glued together. But as I said, the scars are part of the life story of the panel.
In due course I will send the English draft of the report on the panel's repairs. In the mean time, could you give me one more piece of advice- what I can do to make the panel happy?
Thank you very much.
Kind regards,
Marenka Gabeler
On Mon, 13/9/10, Dr E. Spitzberger dre.spitzberger@gmail.com wrote:
From: Dr E. Spitzberger
Subject: RE: Interview
To: marenkagabeler@yahoo.co.uk
Date: Monday, 13 September, 2010, 10:20
Dear Miss Gabeler,
Thank you for the image which you attached in your previous correspondence. The image showed a darkened brown panel of Oak, split horizontally into three and with an incomplete painted image of a male portrait in Stil de Grain Yellow. The spaces between the three pieces has necessitated an increase in height of the image.
It was interesting to hear your views, thoughts and feelings about the panel's scars and wounds.
You talk about the integration of the scars and wounds inherent in the old panel into its identity. It was unclear if the panel had accepted this new identity or if it had no choice but to do so. You went onto explain that the old man would not be the same again after his fall and that fractures would show where the wood has been glued and that scars are part of the life story of the panel.
The first word of your speech that I found interesting in your most recent letter was 'serious'. You explained that more and more you are regarding the panel as a serious piece of work. We could also say that you are regarding the old man as a serious piece of work. The opposite of serious is humorous. I wondered if what had at one point been a humorous and light-hearted enquiry, had now become a process of a more serious nature.
You went on to ask me for one more piece of advice. I am unable to provide advice, Marenka. My role is to reflect and highlight aspects of your speech about the panel that may be in some way useful for you, in order that you reach the truth of your desire for the panel. You see, if I provided you with answers in order to meet your need, then we would never reach the truth of what your desire for the panel might be.
We have exchanged ideas about your need for the panel in one of our previous exchanges. I am able to bring this material up again here. You explained that your needs for the panel were to repair it and to reclaim the panel from the people that had not taken good-enough care of it.
And so my next question to you, Marenka, will be, what do you desire of the panel?
Kind Regards,
Dr Ernst Spitzberger