Hidden in Plain Sight

Files from the saai archive are stripped of their archival value: all information is removed, at least all textual one. Instead, what we see is their carrying material, namely, different paper formats. By translating archival files into a currency long dominated art historical discourse and production—the oil painting—questions of value become suddenly transposed, as well. What is archival information, what is an archival object? Where does its value reside, and how can we re-read it against categorical conventions? What are the mechanics of reinforced bias and exclusionary methods? As many institutionalised archives in the Western world, the archival documents of forgotten figures found in the saai speak to the long-standing conventions of a discipline constructed through so-called canonical figures—and their oeuvre. Because even where materials and people already broke into the archive, people still disappear between the lines—no longer read, but illegible, lost in missing metadata.

This project attempts to re-adjust the depth of field when looking at the archive. What happens, when we (metaphorically and materially speaking) retrain our eyes on a different layer of information? Maybe on different information altogether? Can we trace materials without the information that we are looking for? Can we forego the primate of the values given and reconceive what we are looking for—which may be hidden in plain sight?