In this work the light bulbs visualise generated words.The relation to Conceptual Art becomes quite marked. The sequences of patterns, the respective range of possibilities developing from a firmly established system of signs (or rather individual, illuminated bulbs as visualised signs), conform in their approach to the positions of artists working conceptually. Also, the inspired and creative artist could be disposed of here, and was replaced by a pre-given external system like that in White’s machines.
But despite a formal similarity, White’s text works reveal a different starting point.
In After the Fact he lets the recpient enter the words directly. Like the information boards of American cinemas, the text appears in the uppermost window and then disappers again. By contrast to the appoach of text-based Conceptual Art, White has no control over the content. Although the comparison with text-based Conceptual Art is suggested, all that is intended here is a form of visualisation of the artwork’s internal process.
Please, compare the work Four-Letter Word Generator.
(Herzogenrath & Lähnemann 2009:21)
Size: 50 × 75 × 27 cm