pop-up
copy shop

2019

Seize the Memes of Production

Pop-up Copy Shop was a 24 hour durational performance piece making photocopies of my drawings and internet memes. The production resulted in a floor to ceiling collage of drawings and then later green-screened out in video post-production. The project reflects on labor, erasure of labor, unseen labor, production/reproduction, and the real, the unreal, the stamp of the real, the index of the real. At the reception/end of the 24hrs, in a ritual exchange, viewers were invited to purchase a copy for 10 cents that is then stamped and certified as an original copy.

2019 / Magenta Suite. Exeter, NH

Date: Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 10:19 AM
Subject: Request for the Philips Exeter Library: Conceptual Art Project

Hi Gail,

I am a conceptual artist based in Boston and am writing to you with a belated request for assistance with an art installation/performance I am engaging in this weekend in Exeter at a gallery called Magenta Suite. I am familiar with the design and history of the Philips Exeter library.

My project will be called Popup Copy Shop and will be a durational performance piece for 24 hours during which time I will be making photocopies of my drawings and internet memes. The production will result in a floor to ceiling collage of drawings, ordered in a recombinatory method according to a merge sort algorithm.  The project is a reflection on labor, art production, and the myth of authenticity. This is part of a larger project proposal I will be submitting for a residency in Switzerland at the library Bibliothek Andreas Züst. 

Here is my big unusual ask for library: Could I borrow one of your photocopy machines for the performance? I need a black and white copier.

This is an extension of archival practices similar to the artist Fred Wilson in his seminal 1992 piece for the Maryland Historical Society called "Mining the Museum."

Let me know if this is at all possible, given the tight time frame. I would need the copy machine delivered to the gallery late Friday afternoon. Production begins at 6pm Friday and will end promptly at 6pm Saturday night. This will all be documented. The borrowing of the library's copy machine also presents an opportunity for a unique dialogue between the library and the community at large.

I have cc'd the gallery on this communication.

Thank you so much for your consideration,

A_Marcel


_______________________________________

Date: Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 2:23 PM
Subject: RE: Request for the Philips Exeter Library: Conceptual Art Project

Dear Ms. Marcel,

I am sorry to let you know that we cannot honor your request to borrow a photocopier. Our “photocopiers” are networked printers for the use of our students and in constant use.

Sincerely,

Gail Scanlon

Gail G. Scanlon
James H. Ottaway, Jr. ’55 Chair
Academy Librarian
Phillips Exeter Academy


_______________________________________

Date: Tue, Apr 30, 2019 at 2:55 PM
Subject: Re: Request for the Philips Exeter Library: Conceptual Art Project

Dear Gail,

Thank you so much for considering my request!

Best,

A_Marcel