Two Figures in a Field — Water
Silk screen print on paper 17.5 x 17.5 inches (44.5 x 44.5 cm) editions of 30 and 2 APs.
Two Figures in a Field — Fire
Silk screen print on paper 17.5 x 17.5 inches (44.5 x 44.5 cm) editions of 30 and 2 APs.
About the Silk Screens
The pair of silkscreen print editions, Two Figures in a Field, are part of an immersive installation of the same name by the artist Tom Pnini. The project presents stories of sea voyages across the English Channel, including a famous attempt to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the Channel , conceived as an art project in 1975 by Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared at sea; and a news story from 2015 about Syrian refugees who desperately tried to swim across the Channel for survival. Juxtaposed, is the story of a catastrophic fire in 1876 in the Brooklyn Theater, a historic theater located in Brooklyn, New York. Pnini recounts these significant moments of disappearance, loss, and tragedy in a multi-layered and experiential way, using illusions to imagine the past.
The silkscreen editions depict the American stage actress, Kate Claxton (1848-1924) , who played the lead role in a play that was performed on the night of the Brooklyn Theater fire . In the silkscreen, Claxton is presented in costume, with an abstract image of the English Channel in the background. Color is manipulated in the prints to emphasize blue and orange hues, representing two themes that are central to the Two Figures in a Field project—water and fire—two natural elements that are in opposition. Two Figures in a Field was presented in Tom Pnini’s solo exhibition at Lesley Heller Gallery in New York, on view from January 10–February 22, 2021.
About the Vinyl
The vinyl record, Two Figures in a Field, is a limited edition pressing, conceived and produced by the artist Tom Pnini, and serves as an entrypoint to Pnini’s immersive installation project of the same name. The project presents stories of sea voyages, and in particular, travels across the English Channel, including a famous attempt to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to the Channel, conceived as an art project in 1975 by Dutch artist Bas Jan Ader, who disappeared at sea; and a news story from 2015 about Syrian refugees who desperately tried to swim across the Channel for survival. Juxtaposed, is the story of a catastrophic fire in 1876 in the Brooklyn Theater, a historic theater located in Brooklyn, New York. Pnini recounts these significant moments of disappearance, loss, and tragedy in a multi-layered and experiential way, using illusions and music to imagine the past.
In the vinyl edition, collaborator Hannah Lee Thompson performs two songs, dated from the 1800’s, that expand on the project’s themes. On one side of the vinyl, a sea shanty, Haul Away Joe, tells the lifelong adventure of a sea traveler. On the other side of the vinyl, The Two Orphans Waltz, tells the story of the Brooklyn Theater fire. With an A side and B side track, listeners must flip the record to hear each song, proposing that there is a dichotomy between the two story lines at the core of this project. Two Figures in a Field was presented in Tom Pnini’s solo exhibition at Lesley Heller Gallery in New York, on view from January 10–February 22, 2021.
