




500 Pounds of Common Earth,
1 Metre Cubed,
Transylvania to Los Angeles
500 Pounds of common earth ('The Consignment') excavated from the Borgo Pass, Transylvania, Romania, contained in a 1 metre cubed wooden crate and transported to Los Angeles via New York, stopping in London and Dublin.
'The Consignment' was secured by Transylvanian agents acting on behalf of 'The Artist' (Roman Vasseur). Further partners and hosts for the work will be sought in Los Angeles and other parts of North America.
Entry of the consignment into the EU was dependent on the presentation of a Phyto Sanitary Certificate demonstrating that chemical and biological tests had been carried out and that the import is not a bio-hazard and potential threat to the EU environment.
'The Consignment' will be delivered for temporary warehousing in, Los Angeles, USA from 3 August for three weeks. ‘The Consignment’ and accompanying documentation will be accessible to the public. It will then be stored in the High Desert by the Centre for Land Use Interpretation (CLUI).
The cost of carrying out the above work will be covered by 'The Artist', associated ‘cultural’ and ‘non-cultural’ institutions in partnership with a syndicate of shareholders. Shareholders will be individuals supporting the project financially.
Cultural Institutions are barred from having any long-term interests in ‘The Work’. It is considered that their return is derived from temporarily employing “The Work” to perpetuate a local symbolic economy.
Every attempt will be made, during the course of this action, to avoid direct reference to myths and fictions commonly associated with this region of Eastern Europe.
Shares in ‘The Work’ have been and will continue to be sold. A 49% interest in ‘The Work’ has been bought and share certificates issued to 73 investors.
View List of Current Shareholders>>
View Terms & Conditions of Share Issue>>
Exhibited:
Austrian Cultural Foundation, London
Project, Dublin
New York
Raid Projects, Los Angeles
CLUI, Los Angeles.
Bildmuseet, Umea, Sweden. Share Certificate only.
Details of current location of work at CLUI Desert Station>>
Words:
The Vampire in an Age of Wars Around Terror and Economic Anemia
by Bryan Alexander. View>
Shipping the Disaster Home by Tom McCarthy
Originally Published: Version 0.4 Magasine.View>>
2000 Art Monthly. Review: David Burrows. View PDF>>
2000 The Guardian Newspaper. Article by Tim Radford. View PDF or link to external page>>