Edition of 80 copies signed and numbered by the artist, plus 8 artist’s proofs.
道具 / Tool consists of a set of four printed images of forks (two made of silver, two of plastic). Dramatically enlarged and slightly deformed, the utensils stand against a black background, strongly affirming their presence—until they are folded and put back in their custom-made box.
As in some of her previous works, Batia Suter is dealing here with typology and objecthood. These four images—which the artist photographed from her own collection of absurd cutlery—look like samples from a kitchenware catalogue focusing as much on the common features of forks as on their potential deformities and eccentricities. Recalling Karl Blossfeldt’s close-up photographs of plants, they highlight the specificity and variety of forms hidden in ordinary things, as well as the strange, almost threatening nature of these “predatory” tools.
