o p e n e n d e d is a space which was created to enable the continual exchange of ideas between artists from an evolving network.

This space is so titled in reference to the concept of ‘the open’ discussed in 'The Open Man and Animal' by Giorgio Agamben translated by Kevin Attell.

It is possible to use this concept as a model illustrative of the process and relationships involved in both the making, and the viewing of art works.

‘Only man, indeed only the essential gaze of authentic thought, can see the open which names the unconcealedness of beings. The animal, on the contrary, never sees this open.’

The artist, at the time of making an artwork may be perceived as moving in the open which the animal is said to see with all its eyes, I would argue that in the process of making an artwork the artist too enters the pure space of the outside.

The artist’s concept for an artwork moves from an intangible (internal) to a tangible (external) realm, whereby materials present themselves and are selected for use, allowing an aesthetic criteria to develop. As informed decisions made by the artist lead to the construction of a language necessary to communicate with other men, “man’s eyes begin to ‘turn backward’ and be placed like ‘traps’ around him”, and move him into the open which names the unconcealedness of beings.

However, through the process of making the artwork, a relationship between the artist, the artwork and the immediate environment is formed akin to ‘the open’ it determines a particular state of being for each component.

It is in this state of being that all three components, the artist, the artwork and the environment, reach an equilibrium of thought in translation, work in motion and the construction of a comparative and relational narrative fed by the possibilities given to circumstance.

This open ends when the artist steps outside the making process, and becomes observer of the work with a subjective eye and an awareness of self. This open ending is in turn the point of departure from which the viewing audience must endeavour to engage with the artwork in the same way in which the animal moves in ‘the open’.

“man always has the world before him- always only stands ‘facing opposite and never enters the ‘pure space’ of the outside- the animal instead moves in the open, in a ‘nowhere without the no’.”

Between the happening and ending of each open for each artist and each viewer lie infinite cords of dialogue and exchange. o p e n e n d e d aims to provide a working space in which to reflect upon and use in a meaningful way these ‘open endings’.