Richard Humann

Broken English

11 November – 18 December, 2004

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In Broken English Richard Humann explores the use of language in a series of varying works. In the Main Gallery, a large video piece of text spans across the length of the wall. The projector moves at the same speed as the image of the typewriter ball, but from right to left, so that rather than being written, the words are erased one by one. This reduction of a sentence symbolizes moving back in time, bringing us closer to a beginning than to an end.

Also in the Main Gallery are the installations, Sometimes Y and Right Before the After Image. These are sign language wall sculptures, done by casting the artist1s own hand forming the shape of sign language letters.

The video installation The Quiet Argument, exhibited in the Project Room, shows two hands on separate screens facing each other having a furious, silent argument in sign language about being or not being. It is the silent argument that we all have inside of us. Four sign language drawings, graphite on paper, are inspired by screen captures from The Quiet Argument. They are classically drawn hand studies based on contemporary language with titles such as Drink It and You Can Become Invisible Too, or The Answer is Yes.

Growth Ring Drawings are explorations into the past. In the same way that a tree grows, so do the handwritten texts of memories, creating a continuous, spiral time line, beginning with the artists first introduction to art at the age of four, and working its way through recent experiences of artistic inspiration.

In this solo exhibition, Richard Humann explores the use of language, be it written or signed, in a deeply metaphorical way. It is a form of communication that can be used for understanding and expression far beyond the spoken language. It can be used to create or erase the notion of time, relationships, memories, and inner struggles. For Humann, this language exploration is both the media and the message.