Arne Schreiber presents “Your Stripes,” a site-specific installation for Open Source Gallery. For “Your Stripes,” Schreiber’s floor drawing uses both the private, indoor space, as well as the public, outdoor space of the gallery as a reference upon which to develop work. Using a predetermined process devised specifically for Open Source, Schreiber paints hand-drawn lines, which extend out from the gallery walls and onto the sidewalk. The drawing operates as a transitional zone between different types of spaces, areas and their edges. His standardized practice of repeating lines allows images to emerge from the imperfections inherent in the materials.

Following the architectural conditions of the space, Schreiber’s drawing is divided into two fields of lines determined by the width of the doors, as well as distance between the sidewalk and the gallery. Lines are taped on the floor by hand and sprayed with white paint--the same material that is normally used to mark lines on the street. By creating lines with this paint, Schreiber allows the same random interplay of materials that creates his work to determine the lifespan of his lines; he uses a paint that defines areas, fades and disappears over time. The physical act of a repeating movement from line to line allows Schreiber to immerse himself in the drawing.

Schreiber’s experiments using specified activities within defined areas make use of the incalculable factors and individual imperfections in everyday materials. Through repetition, his lines create a work that is contingent upon the various factors of its environment. Clean and deliberate lines render visible, through the process of creation, the imperfect conditions and unforeseen factors in the act of painting. For the first time using the floor as a surface on which to draw his lines, Schreiber guides our view to the space on which we normally stand and occupy with our own bodies. By deliberately exposing each the variations within materials and space, “Your Stripes” provokes questions about factors in the creation of a work of art: What conditions affect the interplay of materials? How do imperfections manifest themselves in work? What are the conditions for uniqueness? What is the artist’s role in production?

Arne Schreiber (b. 1974) was born in Potsdam, Germany and currently lives and works in Berlin. He studied at the New York Studio School and the Universität der Künste, Berlin. Schreiber has exhibited extensively internationally. Recent exhibits include: “nowhere -- herenow” at Galerie koal, “FORM -- SIGNAGE” at Sophienholm, “Seeds of Color” at Upon Paper and “Crossing Abstraction” at Kunsthaus Erfurt.

*image (left)
Arne Schreiber,
#484Z, 2014,
Chalk Paint, 50x50com
courtesy of the artist