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NICK MANGAN

wordsby nicholas brown photoscourtesy nick mangan

It’s no secret that artists like to job shadow — we’ve seen countless examples in recent decades of artists whose output is virtually indistinguishable from the work of researchers, scientists, doctors and engineers. On the surface, Australian artist Nick Mangan would seem to fit this emergent category of art practice. His recent project A1 Southwest Stone (2008) was undertaken as part of Lucky Number Seven, the seventh SITE Santa Fe biennial. Here, the Berlin-based sculptor assumed the role of archaeologist, excavating the outer property and interior of a garage that he had located and researched prior to the exhibition. Visitors to the derelict site were first met with a massive fenced-in lot, scattered with dug-up holes and piles of unearthed sod and stone, and plotted with string. Venturing further into the building—a former business whose name the artist lifted for the title of the piece—audiences sifted through a fragmented narrative. Scraps of newspaper, drawn-up plans, photographs and notes identified, among other things, the purported origins of the stone sold at the shop. The stone, according to the story, was sourced from a plundered ancient Native stone ruin, which lay buried beneath the building until the artist dug it up. This story is a lie.