In Focus

Fifty Box Labels

The text below has been reproduced from a document, held in the Tate Archive, which lists each of the full discursive labels attached to each numbered box in From the Freud Museum. A copy of the original document can be downloaded as a pdf here.

Reproduced by permission of the artist, the document is held in the Tate Artist Catalogue File, Susan Hiller, A23298.

.001
Nama-ma/mother
photocopied diagram showing Uluru cave paintings; Australian
native earths collected by the artist near Papunya, in cosmetic
containers, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5
inches], labelled                                                               curated, 1991

.002
Eυχη/prayer
photocopied map; tesserae and modern marble slab found at the
entrance to the underworld near Vathia, in customized
cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5 inches], labelled
                                                                                             presented, 1996

.003
Panacea/cure
photocopied newspaper advertisement; book entitled The Life
Of Joanna Southcote, annotated and extended by the artist with
photograph, flower and newspaper cutting; cover added by the
artist, in customized cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5 inches],
labelled                                                                                filed, 1991

.004
Slapstick/slaep’ stik
photocopied photograph; wooden slapstick; magnifying lens
over British stamp of Mr. Punch, in customized cardboard box
[10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                                           realised, 1991

.005
Virgula Divina/water-witching
photocopy of artist’s notes on dowsing methods; artist’s hand-
made divining rods; two pendulae, one hand-made, in
customized cardboard box, [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             displayed, 1991

.006
Chamin-ha’/House of Knives
photocopy of Classic Mayan calendar glyphs, numerals and day
names; modern obsidian blades, in customized cardboard box
[10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                                          collected, 1992

.007
Komoiδia/comedy
photocopy of Victorian illustration with poem; modern English
toy; two slide viewers with one replica magic lantern slide each,
in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             organised, 1992

.008
Cowgirl/kou’ gurl
photocopied photograph of American outlaw Jennie Metcalf;
two china creamers in the form of cows, in customized
carboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”] , labelled                  collated, 1992

.009
Fürher/guide
translation of introduction to book; Jüdische Geschichte und
Literatur in Vergleichenden Zeittafeln, Julius Höxter, Frankfurt
am Main 1935, containing charts and chronologies through that
date; binding added by the artist, in customized cardboard box
[10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                                           bound, 1992

.010
A’ shiwi/native
photocopied poem from American primary schoolbook; Native
American potsherds in polythene bags, in customized cardboard
box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                                    boxed, 1993

.011
Eaux-de-vie/spirits
text by Robert Graves; water collected by the artist from the
Lethe and Mnemosyne, in antique bottles, corked, sealed and
tagged, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             annotated, 1993

.012
Fatlad/fat lad
photocopied photograph of Belfast street scene; earth collected
by the artist in each of the six counties of Northern Ireland, in
polythene bags, tagged, in customized cardboard box [10” x
13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                                                     addressed, 1993

.013
Initiation/beginning
schematic plan of three ancient rivers; water collected by the
artist from each, in antique bottles, corked, sealed and tagged,
in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                          assembled, 1993

.014
Moror/bitter
photocopied illustration from book; two books modified by the
artist; Essai D’Ethnographie Traditionelle des Mellahs, etc., Elie
Malka, Morocco, n.d. and Juifs et Arabes, Salamon D. Gottein,
Paris 1957, in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             labelled, 1993

.015

Aδησ/Hades
photocopied photograph taken near the Necromanteion of
Ephyra, ancient oracle of the dead and sanctuary of Persephone
and Hades; water collected by the artist from the river Acheron,
in chemical flask, sealed and tagged, in customized cardboard
box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                                   surveyed, 1993

.016
Painjenisul Satanie/Satan’s cobweb
illustration showing ethnic cleansing photocopied from
pamphlet; The Jewish Minority in Roumania: Correspondence
with the Roumanian Government respecting the Grievances of
the Jews
, London 1927; bound and indexed by the artist, in
customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                           indexed, 1993

.017
La peste/plague
photocopied AIDS statistics; photograph under perspex showing
the artist and typical London memento mori of the Great
Plague, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             compiled, 1993

.018
Plight/plite
collage of texts about sandpainting and modern art; modern
sandpainting, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                              registered, 1993

.019
Sophia/wisdom
artist’s typology of religious practioners; waters collected at four
sacred sites, in antique bottles, corked and sealed; tags with
site names, etc., in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             sampled, 1993

.020
Heimlich/homely
photocopy illustrating Breton angel of death; 45 rpm record of
Johnny Ray singing Look Homeward, Angel, in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                referenced, 1994

.021
(simchas)/joy
artist’s classification of box contents; 36 35mm. slides, mounted,
each reproducing a glass slide found in the Freud
Museum, London (previously uncatalogued), in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                classified, 1994

.022
Seance/seminar
photocopied engraving from Athanasius Kircher, Ars Magna
Lucis et Umbrae, 1671; miniature television monitor [l.c.d. type]
showing a programme by the artist entitled Bright Shadow, in
customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                            edited, 1994

.023
Provenance/source
photocopy depicting African tribal art objects; miniature
weapon bundle, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x
2.5”], labelled                                                                   located, 1994

.024
Rex/king
quotation from Sophocles’ Oedipus Rex, olive oil soap, sunflower
seeds, sea salt obtained by the artist near the site of Laius’
murder, in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             positioned, 1994

.025
Occult/hidden
text from the Winnebago Medecine Rite; four miniature masks,
tagged, in customized cardboard box [13.25” x 10 x
13.25”], labelled                                                              portrayed, 1994

.026
Lunes/moons
colour photocopy illustrating human pregnancy in ten phases,
from Aristotle’s Masterpiece & Family Physician, etc.; ten toy
china cups, excavated in London, 19th century English, in
customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             represented, 1994

.027
Relequia/relic
quotation from Walter Benjamin; artificial corsage, made in
Soviet Zone of Germany, labelled and tagged, in customized
cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                            remaindered, 1994

.028
Interior/in teer’ i or
photocopy of engraving showing Lanzarote’s volcanic eruption;
samples of ores and crystals produced from the interior,
collected by the artist, in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25
x 2.5”], labelled                                                                 explored, 1994

.029
Langues/tongues
photocopy of page from Indian Sign Language, by William
Tomkins aka Wambali Wi Uta; flint projectile points, modern, in
customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5], labelled
                                                                                           acquired, 1994

.030
Hermanos/brothers
photocopy illustrating Attic red-figure kylix-krater by
Euphronius, 520-510 BC, showing twins Hypnos (Sleep) &
Thanatos (Death) carrying a dead hero; two miniature plates,
modern, in customized cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             included, 1994

.031
Sequah/prairie flower
excerpt from Little House on the Prairie; 19th C. cologne bottle,
American, with raised lettering, containing dried violet, in
customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             found, 1994

.032
Souvenir/reminder
colour photocopy of postcard showing the “Winged Victory” of
Sanothrace; make-up containers with earthenware & marble
fragments from the Santuary of the Great Gods, Samothraki, in
customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             fitted, 1994

.033
Vision/viz’hún
word definitions; Victorian medicine bottles, tagged, containing
water from two eye wells; two eye amulets, in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                clarified, 1994

.034
Journey/jêr’ni
photocopy of engraving after Rembrandt’s Moses from the
Freud Museum, London, with catalogue entry; seven fossils
collected by the artist in the desert near Mt. Sinai, in customized
cardboard box [10” x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled              processed, 1995

.035
(baraka)/power
colour photocopy of postcard reproduction of painting entitled
La mano poderosa; hand talismans, tagged, from Egypt, North
Africa, Mexico, etc., in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x
2.5”], labelled                                                                   researched, 1995

.036
Rank/rång
illustrated poem from English children’s book; four bars of soap
stamped “made in England”, in customized cardboard box [10 x
13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                                                    displaced, 1995

.037
Amuse/âmuz
Oija board instructions; miniaturized replica Oija board with
indicator, in customized cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             diverted, 1995

.038
Maquette/model
copy of magazine cover with attached acetate hair styler; three
handpainted china doll’s heads, in customized cardboard box
[13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                                           designed, 1995

.039
Deora de/God’s tears
photocopy of anonymously-altered book page w. Oscar Wilde
quotation; dried fuschias from Donegal, presented in 35 mm.
slide holder, in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                             analysed, 1995

.040
Mar alta/rough sea
photocopy of two ‘rough sea’ postcards, one w. Swedish Biblical
quotation pertaining to sailors, one w. French sailors’ legend;
model boat w. mother-of-pearl sails, in customized cardboard
box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                                    navigated, 1995

.041
Regenerate/born again
chart of ancient European alphabets; nine egg-shaped objects in
various materials (clay, wood, alabaster, marble, papier maché,
etc.), in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             witnessed, 1995

.042
Extra/beyond
texts explaining E.S.P.; Zena cards, colour cards, dice, other
materials used to test E.S.P abilities in individual subjects,
in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                             practiced, 1995

.043
Illumination/enlightenment
excerpt from The Symbolic Anglo-French Vocabulary,
illustrating types of lighting; four devotional light-bulbs with
filaments in the shape of religious symbols, in customized
cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled                situated, 1995

.044
Menagerie/animal house
illustrated entry on Noah’s ark from The Encyclopaedia
Brittanica
, 4th edition; 16 plastic animals found in pairs; in
customized cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                            extracted, 1995

.045
S’lademi/retracing
Polish text about the filming of Schindler’s List; objects
collected by the artist at the film set of the concentration camp,
built adjoining the actual site of Plastow camp; in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                 attributed, 1996

.046
Gdzie/where
tourist map of Wieliczka salt mine with site of former slave
labour camp added; three types salt sold as souvenirs, in
customized cardboard box [10 x 13.25 x 2.5”], labelled
                                                                                            preserved, 1996

.047
Bride/mariée
text by Marcel Duchamp; large commemorative sweet, 5
miniature letterboxes, 2 miniature postal vans; in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”]                                 finalized, 1996

.048
Mantis/prophet
excerpt from House of Lords UFO debate; praying mantis in
miniature glass coffin; in customized cardboard box [10 x 13.25
x 2.5 “], labelled                                                               manifested, 1996

.049
Handicraft/skill
image of hand performing psychometry; wooden rapping hand
used in seances; in customized cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”],
labelled                                                                              validated, 1996

.050
Exchange/reciprocate
quotation from Mediums of Transformation by Issa Samb;
three transparent purses with shell toothpicks, in customized
cardboard box [13.25 x 10 x 2.5”], labelled                 rated, 1996

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