Tacita Dean

In this print, a massive rock floats in space, defying the heft and weight its size implies. To produce this effect, the artist Tacita Dean screenprinted semitranslucent white ink over a photographic image, isolating the stone from its surroundings. 

This work is related to the artist’s series on dolmens, the massive stone structures that mark the entrances of prehistoric burial sites throughout the UK. The continued presence of these stone monuments over thousands of years reminds us of the deep time of human existence and the limitations of written history. Dean’s intervention asks us to consider the stone in a way that is nearly impossible to do most of the time—divorced from its position in the landscape and outside of time. 

–SM