still alive

Series, Nero Assoluto granite, each 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.3 cm, 2008– In his work >still alive< Arnold Reinthaler documents experienced time and time yet to be experienced—stroke by stroke, day by day, month by month. Engraved on black granite cards, the artist records the elapsed number of hours with counting lines in order to calculate from their sum the time still remaining to live and potentially work. The common credit card format is symbolic of a personal time credit, which without fail decreases and whose total amount remains uncertain for the artist. The medium of black granite instead of plastic suggests weight and enduring value. But at the same time it also refers to the gravestone, which comes into play when the question of the still remaining lifetime can finally be answered and counting the number of hours becomes irrelevant. Through a continuous artistic act, >still alive< attempts to capture the moment and constitute the present. Franz Thalmair & Birgit Rinagl, Translation: Christine Schöffler & Peter Blakeney, 2013

Tags	conceptual, series, stone, pencil
Technique	Installation