Arnold Dreyblatt. Replica. Appropriating Language #19

About

 12 works, 90 x 70 x 5 cm, are hung in a series on a long wall. Each work contains a wooden frame, a wooden panel, a layer of reflective plexiglass, a miniature lamp, a magnifying optic, and an adjustable microfiche/microfilm holder. The optics have been adapted from the "Pentakta HL 100 microfiche hand reading apparatus" ("Mikrofilm Handlesegerat im Taschenformat") which were produced by Pentacon Dresden for use in scientific research and by the State Security system.
    In the center of the plexiglass-covered wood panel, one finds a small hole with a lens, from which light is emanating. One peers into the "peephole" lens which magnifies a small circular image of documents from the full collection of 98 pages printed on the microfiche in miniature. One's eyes gradually focus on an illuminated miniaturized text which has been magnified to the limit of perceptual readability. 
    While much of Dreyblatt's work often reflects on the process of collecting, storing and archiving information, here the text speaks of' the technical and planned disappearance and destruction of our collective memory by institutions and governmental agencies.

Text excerpts from: ÖNORM S 2109-1, Akten- und Datenvernichtung, Teil 1: Papier, Österreichisches Normungsinstitut, Wien, 2000; DIN 32757-1, Vernichtung von Informationsträgern, Teil 1: Anforderungen und Prüfungen an Maschinen und Einrichtungen, Deutsches Institut für Normung e.V., Berlin