The diagram: Blackboard Series
(in collaboration with Banner Repeater, London)
Claire Nichols, Dean Kenning, Dave Burrows, John Mullarkey,
Clunie Reid, and torna / 2 September - 16 October 2011

The blackboard series is a contributive and sequential series of diagrams, drawn onto the blackboard, in the working environment of the reception area at SPACE (studios and gallery) in London. Reflecting on the focus of the diagram over the last year 2010 at Banner Repeater, in its environment of a working station, and acting a little, perhaps, as a rear-view mirror, to move forwards.

A number of people who have engaged with the diagram over 2010 at Banner Repeater were asked to contribute a diagram for the blackboard. The series is ephemeral in nature, being drawn in chalk, and there may be some consideration about how each contribution relates to the others, and how much of a palimpsest does this present.

Simultaneously, Banner Repeater sent to torna the series of diagrams as they are drawn at SPACE, which were then translated by torna, drawing the diagram on the blackboard for each new contribution.

Diagram 1 = 'Where to Start?' by John Mullarkey

'Where to Start?' shows a number of names, or subjects, as place-holders, 'Badiou', 'Deleuze', 'Derrida', and 'Laruelle'. Each subject names a starting point respectively in mathematics, the animal, transcendental differance, and non-philosophy. Each names both a different decision, starting-point, starting-curve, or starting-line, as well as a new time to start a new diagram.'

Diagram 2 by Claire Nichols

Diagram 3 by Dean Kenning

Diagram 4 by Clunie Reid

Diagram 5 by David Burrows

Banner Repeater is an artist led contemporary art space and a reading room dedicated to artists' printed material, founded by Ami Clarke in 2009, located on platform 1, Hackney Downs train station, London. The project is driven by its location, in the natural interstice the platform and incidental footfall of over 4,000 passengers a day provides. The reading room holds a collection of artist's books and other printed material, for both browsing and purchase. The permanent collection is home to Publish and be Damned's public library. The project space has an arts programme of exhibitions, events and performance, and publishes pamphlets and posters in tandem with this, which are free to take away. Ideas relating to publishing have pushed further many of the works in the arts programme.
www.bannerrepeater.org