Lorem Ipsum

Lorem ipsum (set of 4), 2008, graphite and latex on wood panel, graphite on vellum with acrylic sheets, panels: 36 x 44 inches / 91 x 112 cm each; paper: 4.5 x 5.5 inches / 114 x 140 mm.

installation view

set one

The large panel depicts “Lorem Ipsum”—a placeholder text commonly used in graphic design.

set one detail: approximate translation of "Lorem Ipsum" (graphite on
vellum, with acrylic sheet)

set one detail (graphite on vellum, with acrylic sheet)

approximate translation of the garbled Latin of "Lorem Ipsum".

set two

Large panel: Cicero's “De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or The Purposes of Good and Evil )” (45 BC).

set two detail: translation of passage from Cicero's "De
finibus bonorum et malorum" (graphite on vellum, with
acrylic sheet)

set two detail: (graphite on vellum, with acrylic sheet)

Translation by H. Rackham (1914).

detail (graphite and latex on wood)

Large drawings on panel and tiny ones on vellum depict texts in Latin and English, questioning the seemingly meaningless and labor versus pleasure.

The texts come from two sources: “Lorem Ipsum” and Cicero's “De finibus bonorum et malorum (On the Ends of Goods and Evils, or The Purposes of Good and Evil )” (45 BC).

Cicero asks if labor can lead to redemption, and if anyone can be faulted for pursuing pleasure if it is harmless. I'm interested in these implications for artmaking—can an artist be faulted for pursuing pleasure? Can a laborious process lead to redemption? I am also interested in challenging the value of visual pleasure by presenting these works free of expressive conceits.

Caption: Christine Wong Yap, Lorem ipsum (set of 4), 2008, graphite and latex on wood panel, graphite on vellum with acrylic sheets, panels: 36 x 44 inches / 91 x 112 cm each; paper: 4.5 x 5.5 inches / 114 x 140 mm.