Rebecca Geldard
Time Out , May 08, 2002
LENGTH: 178 words

Simon Faithfull: Transit Space
Simon Faithfull's latest installation 'Dog Ends' is comprised, literally, of hundreds of fag ends.

Cut into identically-sized squares, plain and liquorice cigarette papers create giant, grid-like collages that reproduce the artist's Palm Pilot drawings of his dog. On its journey from handheld organiser to gallery wall, the work describes technology in reverse. Faithfull's lick and stick method of reproduction is the very antithesis of the smaller, sharper, faster ethos of consumer technology, a discrepancy that is heightened by the fact that each image is difficult to decipher. Like memory-heavy digital images, they do not instantly appear; the download time depends on your ability to assimilate each pixelised form.

Each fluttering paper grid provides a welcome physical distraction from its digital counterpart.

In one sense these images act as tongue-in-cheek psychometric tests, in which the actual image and its digi-shadow swim in and out of view. Thankfully, though, the diagnosis is left to us. What did you see?