Ceal Floyer Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Swiss Version, 2016
Ink on paper, spray mounted to wall
Dimensions variable
At once performance, document and sculpture, Ceal Floyer began her series of till receipts in 1999. The first iteration of the series is held in the collection of Tate Britain. The series is limited to 10 unique works altogether.
Each is a printed receipt of a list of goods purchased at a supermarket or grocery in the country in which it is exhibited, or the collection in which it is held. The list of articles includes only products that are pure white (paper, sugar, salt), have the word ‘white’ in their name, or that can be used for cleaning, cosmetic or medical purposes (soap, powder, aspirin). At the checkout the artist may arrange the products on the conveyor to make them appear in a particular order on the receipt. When exhibited, the receipt is attached flush to the centre of an empty white wall in a vertical orientation, without any framing device, further playing on the format of a monochrome painting.
Floyer has remarked on the work: “Monochrome needs to be produced locally in order to avoid reading it as an exotic curiosity. It counts on its unremarkable outward appearance for its subsequent conceptual transformation.”
(Floyer, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, 2008, p.55.)
As well as the place in which a given work is shown or collected, titles are fundamental to Floyer’s work. Monochrome Till Receipt (White) conveys both the literal and conceptual meanings of the work, indicating that it is a list and that it suggests a single colour. As the curator Iwona Blazwick has noted, the work is also akin to ‘concrete poetry’, suggesting ‘a still life made entirely of white objects ... a readymade, the document of an action, and in its use of text, a conceptual art work’ (Blazwick, Kunsthalle Bern 1999, unpaginated).
WORKS IN SERIES
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) British Version, 1998/2009
Tate Britain, London
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) American Version, 1999
Private Collection, USA
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Japanese Version, 1999
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) German Version, 1999/2008
Collection of Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, ständige Leihgabe der KiCo
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Norwegian Version, 2002
Private Collection
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Portuguese Version, 2004
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Spanish Version, 2005
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) French Version, 2006
Collection of FRAC Lorraine
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Swiss Version, 2008
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Canadian Version, 2011
Private Collection, Canada
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS / PROTOCOL
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) lists a range of products that are all white, bought by the artist in a single store.
There is no set budget for the shopping expedition. It should reflect the shopping of a one-person’s household normal week. The shopping can be done in any normal supermarket as long as it is a recognizable brand name.
The back of the receipt is covered with “3M spray mount,” a type of adhesive which allows the paper to be affixed to a wall (clean and dry) and repeatedly removed. If the fixative power should vanish, another layer of spray mount can be sprayed on.
The work should be installed centered at 157 cm (standard hanging height, to evoke the hanging style of a monochrome painting) There should be nothing else on the same wall. The label should not be mounted next to the work. The manner in which the label is mounted should be in keeping with standard exhibition practice.The work should not be illuminated with spotlights. There should be no barrier around the work.
An exhibition copy can be remade for each for installation – the “shopping“ can be done by the curator, in case Ceal Floyer is not available. The original receipt should be stored between sheets of UV glass or Plexiglas.
Each is a printed receipt of a list of goods purchased at a supermarket or grocery in the country in which it is exhibited, or the collection in which it is held. The list of articles includes only products that are pure white (paper, sugar, salt), have the word ‘white’ in their name, or that can be used for cleaning, cosmetic or medical purposes (soap, powder, aspirin). At the checkout the artist may arrange the products on the conveyor to make them appear in a particular order on the receipt. When exhibited, the receipt is attached flush to the centre of an empty white wall in a vertical orientation, without any framing device, further playing on the format of a monochrome painting.
Floyer has remarked on the work: “Monochrome needs to be produced locally in order to avoid reading it as an exotic curiosity. It counts on its unremarkable outward appearance for its subsequent conceptual transformation.”
(Floyer, Museo d’Arte Contemporanea Donnaregina, 2008, p.55.)
As well as the place in which a given work is shown or collected, titles are fundamental to Floyer’s work. Monochrome Till Receipt (White) conveys both the literal and conceptual meanings of the work, indicating that it is a list and that it suggests a single colour. As the curator Iwona Blazwick has noted, the work is also akin to ‘concrete poetry’, suggesting ‘a still life made entirely of white objects ... a readymade, the document of an action, and in its use of text, a conceptual art work’ (Blazwick, Kunsthalle Bern 1999, unpaginated).
WORKS IN SERIES
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) British Version, 1998/2009
Tate Britain, London
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) American Version, 1999
Private Collection, USA
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Japanese Version, 1999
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) German Version, 1999/2008
Collection of Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, ständige Leihgabe der KiCo
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Norwegian Version, 2002
Private Collection
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Portuguese Version, 2004
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Spanish Version, 2005
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) French Version, 2006
Collection of FRAC Lorraine
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Swiss Version, 2008
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) Canadian Version, 2011
Private Collection, Canada
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS / PROTOCOL
Monochrome Till Receipt (White) lists a range of products that are all white, bought by the artist in a single store.
There is no set budget for the shopping expedition. It should reflect the shopping of a one-person’s household normal week. The shopping can be done in any normal supermarket as long as it is a recognizable brand name.
The back of the receipt is covered with “3M spray mount,” a type of adhesive which allows the paper to be affixed to a wall (clean and dry) and repeatedly removed. If the fixative power should vanish, another layer of spray mount can be sprayed on.
The work should be installed centered at 157 cm (standard hanging height, to evoke the hanging style of a monochrome painting) There should be nothing else on the same wall. The label should not be mounted next to the work. The manner in which the label is mounted should be in keeping with standard exhibition practice.The work should not be illuminated with spotlights. There should be no barrier around the work.
An exhibition copy can be remade for each for installation – the “shopping“ can be done by the curator, in case Ceal Floyer is not available. The original receipt should be stored between sheets of UV glass or Plexiglas.