Bettina Khano

Stand-in, 2018

light reflective material, dimensions correspond to the height of the room,width about 1.5 m

A grey soft material falls from the ceiling of the building and reaches the floor in generous pleats. It is situated in a slight angle to a nearby wall, keeping a small distance to it. In one instant the drapery appears dense and velvety, in another the surface fluoresces so intensely that it seems to dissolve. “Nothing shall take place but the place” (Mallarmé) comes to mind; empty centres, non-meaning, non-linear associations of topics. Stand-in, a seam, implies the concept of nothing and the fact that it is there, present in its physicality. An empty screen lacking any determinate meaning, waiting for the observer’s gaze.

Smoke & Mirrors, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, US
Photo credit: Elon Schoenholz