Two Lines is an experiment that opens up the space of the spoken or written word and the imagination. 200 people received the following instructions by post: “draw on the front side two lines, each a different color, which may touch each other a maximum of one time”. The drawing is then uploaded to this website. How do 200 different people interpret the instruction? What image came to mind when they read the instructions, and how creatively and differently did they draw the two lines?
In 1969, Sol LeWitt began his famous “Wall Drawings”, which were based on systematic instructions that were painted on the respective walls in a site-specific manner. The people who drew them used a set of instructions written by the artist. The instructions were open to interpretation: often the people following them had to decide where the lines or shapes should go. A mural like this looks slightly different each time it is painted. At the end of an exhibition, the mural is painted over, and the instructions are stored until the next time the mural is made.
Other examples of artworks created through instructions, scripts or notations, and which are quite allographic, could be “EM 2 (Telephone Picture)”, 1923 by László Moholy-Nagy, or “Höhere Wesen befahl: rechte obere Ecke schwarz malen!”, 1969 by Sigmar Polke.
Each drawing on the postcard can therefore be considered a separate work of art. The title of the work was decided in advance by chance (TL 001-200). But who is the author? The person who drew or the person who gave the instructions? Or is it co-authorship?
The website Two Lines offers the possibility to compare TL 001-200 and to enjoy the variety.
Idea and design: Paul Jürgens Development: Luca Meusburger