Original artwork description:

84x64 cm | Filler, oak frame

The phrase is used for something taking place before the term for it is coined. For example, some may say Jesus was a socialist "Avant la Lettre". Literally, it describes an illustration in the early days of print that left a blank space for translation of the caption.
Can we think of a conscious human mind before language? Maybe self-awareness is a product of communication itself. Julian Jaynes proposes in his book "The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind" that human consciousness evolved just 4000 years ago. Before that, the atomised subject didn't exist, and instead, we heard a multitude of voices inside of us. This is, of course, just a theory, but while complex life is most certainly possible without consciousness, it is hard to imagine the use of elaborate language without awareness.

This work describes the loss of language. It is the emptiness beyond figuration and even beyond distinction. It is monochrome in the sense that it is an image that shows itself as an object. There is no opening, no point of view, it is completely sealed, but as such, it is also fully present. Language and awareness detract from the feeling of presence, from connectivity with the objects in the physical world. Only outside words, without the possibility to discriminate, can the gap between the subject and the world be bridged, and the emptiness is turned to wholeness.

Materials used:

Filler (coarse and fine) in oak frame

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