Ryan Gander This natural sign (We stood in a circle beneath the moon, whilst outsiders watched the paint dry), 2021
10 oz indigo black Japanese denim, acrylic paint
180,5 x 130,5 x 3,5 cm (71 1/8 x 51 3/8 x 1 3/8 in)
A painting on raw denim depicting a full moon witnessed by the artist during a period of reduced geographical mobility, is from a series of works addressing what Ryan Gander has called natural and conventional signs. Whereas a found shape—a tree, a footprint, or indeed the image of the moon—have meaning as representations, other signs—such as a nation’s flag, money, or writing—are only meaningful because it has been conventionally granted.
By questioning the distinction, Gander suggests that the easy recognition of such signs we take for granted in daily life may deserve reconsideration and this could renew awareness to our existence.
“I’ve become a little obsessed with the idea that the world can be divided into ‘those things that naturally convey meaning’ and ‘those things that are made to convey meaning’,” said Gander. “I guess that is what Maurice Merleau-Ponty meant by ‘primary and secondary modes of expression’. Almost all art—perhaps with the exception of outsider art—is made of conventional signs, not natural ones. For me, the phenomenon of finding natural signs outside the safety of a gallery by happenstance—like a discarded bus ticket, a waning moon, footprints in the snow—is often a more memorable and significant experience than those I am fed and manipulated by, which we might find charged by the white spaces of the institutions of art. As we navigate the world we miss so much, there are endless flashes of magnificent provocations, but we have to look.”
By questioning the distinction, Gander suggests that the easy recognition of such signs we take for granted in daily life may deserve reconsideration and this could renew awareness to our existence.
“I’ve become a little obsessed with the idea that the world can be divided into ‘those things that naturally convey meaning’ and ‘those things that are made to convey meaning’,” said Gander. “I guess that is what Maurice Merleau-Ponty meant by ‘primary and secondary modes of expression’. Almost all art—perhaps with the exception of outsider art—is made of conventional signs, not natural ones. For me, the phenomenon of finding natural signs outside the safety of a gallery by happenstance—like a discarded bus ticket, a waning moon, footprints in the snow—is often a more memorable and significant experience than those I am fed and manipulated by, which we might find charged by the white spaces of the institutions of art. As we navigate the world we miss so much, there are endless flashes of magnificent provocations, but we have to look.”