Following its presentation at the Santa Monica Museum of Art, Allen Ruppersberg will stage the New York debut of The Never-Ending Book Part Two/Art and Therefore Ourselves. The piece consists of an arrangement of brightly colored armatures (modeled from theatrical stage designs of the 1940's), lightboxes, and cardboard boxes full of copies taken from the artist's archive. The color copies—of found photographs, sheet music, record labels and depression-era recipes—also cover the gallery wall, serving both as a backdrop and an index of all the elements included in the "book". W. B. Yeats' "The Circus Animals' Desertion" is reprinted here as well, echoing "old themes" and "allegorical dreams."
Extending the journey of these documents from private possessions to anonymous information, visitors are encouraged to sift through them and keep their own selections. The records on view are for sale, both at a dollar value and for a barter agreement of at least 50 pre-1970 photographs. Ruppersberg so uses an idea of storage and the accessible model of the library as his platform for making present what seems to have passed away. With a "Wave Goodbye to Grandma" and a poetic indexicality, the artist's work re-members our collective past.
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