1. Installation history (2007)
creator(s) Sanneke Stigter (conservator/art historian)

Joseph Kosuth’s ’Glass (one and three)’ was realized in 1977 when Geertjan Visser acquired the installation. The work was created in his Antwerp apartment according to instructions on a certificate. The definition of 'glass' was taken from the English-Flemish (Dutch) dictionary. The object in this so called 'object definition' by Kosuth, a plain sheet of glass, was delivered to Visser’s house. This sheet of glass was photographed standing on the spot where the whole work was to be installed. The resulting photograph would be part of the installation itself and was hung left to the sheet of glass, opposing its textual definition on the right. As a result the photograph of the glass showed the same background as the actual scene of where the whole work was installed, including the glass itself, generating a visual connection to the site. The photographic image of the glass would appear almost as transparent as the glass itself because of the matching background. Unfortunately there is no visual document of the beginning of the installation history showing ’Glass (one and three)’ in Visser’s apartment.

May 1979, two years after acquisition the work was given to the Kröller-Müller Museum as a long-term loan. The three parts of the installation were actually transported to the Kröller-Müller Museum in Otterlo. The exhibition history shows how the artwork was treated as a ’guest’ in the museum, that was using the actual material parts of the installation that were handed to the museum when the loan was organized. This research project has provided the time and tools to research how to deal with the immaterial aspects of this installation by Joseph Kosuth and develop a guideline of best practice.

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