Lorem Ipsum is a series of small drawings and large works on panel depicting texts in Latin or English. The texts come from two sources: "Lorem Ipsum"—a placeholder text commonly used in graphic design—and a philosophical treatise by Cicero, an ancient Greek philosopher.

 

Graphic designers' "Lorem Ipsum" is often assumed to be meaningless, but it is a hodge-podge of Latin phrases culled from Cicero's "De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or The Purposes of Good and Evil )" (45 BC).

 

The Lorum Ipsum set of four present the placeholder text, its equivalent in English, Cicero's original quote in Latin, and its translation by H. Rackham (1914). The works on panel are made with mechanical pencil on latex and wood. They are accompanied by small texts drawn with mechanical pencil on vellum and mounted with acrylic sheeting to mimic a museum wall text.

 

Cicero asks if labor can lead to redemption, and if anyone can be faulted for pursuing pleasure if it is harmless. I'm interested in these implications for artmaking — can an artist be faulted for pursuing pleasure? Can a laborious process possibly lead to redemption? Yet I am interested in challenging the value of visual pleasure by presenting two-dimensional works free of expressive conceits.

Images

• Lorem ipsum (set of 4), 2008, graphite and latex on wood panel, graphite on vellum with acrylic sheets, panels: 36 x 44 inches; paper: 4.5 x 5.5 inches.
• Detail: approximate translation of "Lorem Ipsum" (graphite on vellum, with acrylic sheet)
• Detail: translation of passage from Cicero's "De finibus bonorum et malorum" (graphite on vellum, with acrylic sheet)
• Detail (graphite and latex on wood)
• Detail (graphite and latex on wood)