Over the past three years and within twenty exhibitions, Krakow Witkin Gallery has “activated” Louise Lawler and Allan McCollum's "Fixed Intervals" (20 brass objects) by following the artists’ instructions and periodically installing a "Fixed Interval" into an exhibition for a short period of time. The online presentation is the documentation of this multi-year activity and has been done in honor of Brooke Alexander and Ted Bonin (both integral to the project back in 1992 when it was made), and with the firm belief in the power of the work of Louise Lawler and Allan McCollum. This project is also presented with appreciation for the artists working with Krakow Witkin Gallery who were amenable and enthusiastic about the inclusion of their work. Some of the artists are Josef Albers, Eleanor Antin, Mel Bochner, Maggi Brown, Sophie Calle, León Ferrari, Lyle Ashton Harris, Bronlyn Jones, Beryl Korot, Brice Marden, Julian Opie, Frank Poor, Kay Rosen, Cindy Sherman, and Fred Wilson, among numerous others. All of the images can be viewed here.

A Brief History of the "Fixed Intervals" project, as written by Louise Lawler and Allan McCollum:

“In 1988, the two of us were invited to exhibit our works together in the same rooms, at Le Consortium, in Dijon, France, although we had worked together previously to produce various art objects in collaboration, although we had shown our artworks together frequently in “group shows,” we had never actually tried to show our “own” work together, just the two of us, since we were a little nervous about this, a little competitive, we wondered if it might not feel better to separate our works with some kind of a spacer, or placeholder, something that might define a boundary, make a connection, suggest a pause, reconcile a difference, smooth over a contradiction, draw a parallel, close a gap, create a segue, establish a relationship, some small device to take the place of a lengthy explanation, or some sort of memorial to stand in for the non-existing transitional artworks that might otherwise have functioned to fill in the discomforting gaps between our occasionally incompatible ideas since one of us (Louise) had used an enlarged ampersand (&) in the past to place between a pair of other artists’ works in a group show context since one of us (Allan) had produced many objects in the past to take the place of artworks, we looked upon the little graphic symbols known as DINGBATS to help us solve our dilemma, as they seemed to work so well at performing such similar functions in books, and since they already existed in such plentiful supply, we created the Fixed Intervals to use in our exhibit.

We hope the Fixed Intervals can continue to serve as memorials to all the possible artworks that might have been created but were never made because they would have resembled another artist’s work too closely.”

Establishing Fixed Intervals (according to the artists):

•  If works are similar a Fixed Interval may be placed between

• If works are different a Fixed Interval may be placed between

• Two Fixed Intervals are not placed without works between

• If a work is isolated a Fixed Interval may be placed before or after

• If a work is absent a Fixed Interval may take its place

• A Fixed Interval paired with its reverse may be a fixed interval

• A Fixed Interval is not a work in itself

"Fixed Intervals" are available for purchase in groups of five.

For images of and information on each of the works, as well as installation views, click here.

To view other works by Louise Lawler, click here.

To view other works by Allan McCollum, click here.

For more information, please email here.

Exhibition Dates: April 20 - June 1, 2024