Meriç Algün »A Work of Fiction«

Algün Ringborg's first exhibition at the gallery is generated through a single comprehensive methodology involving the making of an artwork according to a particular constraint: that of being exclusively made up from the exemplifying sentences in the Oxford English Dictionary. With reference to writers like Georges Perec and other members of the Oulipo group, Algün Ringborg set out to explore the act of writing and that of creating by not writing or making anything. Rather, each written word or action is prescribed by the dictionary. The project explores the concept of authorship, the role of the writer and thereby that of the artist.

The exhibition comprises 3 main bodies of work: an environment, an audio narrative, and a manuscript for a novel – all characterizing the idea of an author and constructed using exemplifying sentences from the dictionary.

The environment, first compiled as a list of objects then manifested physically in the space, reflects the idea of an authors’ space and makes for a framework for the act of making. The audio narrative, titled Metatext, echoing in the space, mediates on the act of writing itself. Almost like a self-reflective script, it explores writing through its own making and through what it says and intimates. Here we encounter the apparent author speaking of a book recently written: I was toying with the idea of writing a book. A work of fiction. I didn’t know what I was doing. And I have to say. The first sentence is so hard to compose.

Finally, a novel, presented in manuscript form within the environment uses the same methodology in which nothing is written but rather compiled. It tells a detective-like story following the characters Maria, Mark and Peter. Romantic relationships develop into drama, murder and whatever else one might find in a more generic crime, romance or thriller book. The puzzling manner of writing reveals the methodology of its authoring as the story progresses.

Meriç Algün Ringborg was born in 1983 in Istanbul and currently lives and works in Stockholm. The contrasting differences between the make-up of both cities – Istanbul and Stockholm – particularly socially and politically, as well as her movement between the two, play a key role in her practice. Her work concentrates on issues of identity, borders, bureaucracy, language and translation through appropriated and “ready-made” texts, collections and archives. Forthcoming and recent exhibition venues  include Kunstverein, Hannover; Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver; Marabouparken, Stockholm; MoCA, Detroit; Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna; Art in General, New York (2013); CCA Wattis, San Francisco; Witte de With, Rotterdam; Malmö Konsthall, Malmö (2012) and the 12th Istanbul Biennial (2011).