Gold Mountain

Alex Selenitsch

Gold Mountain

Security tape appeared one day the floor outside my office to mark out a safe exit in an emergency. While mindful of its purpose, I saw the gold/black rhythm and reflective surface. I located a roll from the same supplier, and after some preliminary studies (the SECURITY TAPES) of field patterns using the black and gold diamonds in the tape, I drew/taped/constructed two models of Mt Purgatory, now numbers 1 and 7 of the present set, but then numbered 1 and 2. The rest followed to bring the number up to seven. This allowed the set to function as a conglomerate model of Mt. Purgatory, as well as offering seven individually biased versions in a kind of narrative.

The tape was applied in two stages: firstly, a profile of the mountain was put down as if it was made of strips, and secondly, a slightly disordered pattern of elements cut from the raw tape was overlaid to emphasize a transition from black to gold. Passive looking, and over it, active looking. In one drawing, these two concerns appeared to emerge out of the one gesture, indicating a place where the mountain and its occupation might be the same. This naturally became the fourth drawing, corresponding to the fourth level on Dante’s version of Mt. Purgatory – SLOTH, where Dante and Virgil rest and the mountain’s structure is explained.

GOLD MOUNTAIN drawings
vinyl security tape on paper 42.5 x 57 cm
ea. $700 or $4000 series

Gold Mountain #1 (2004)