NARCISSUS’ FIELD

2023

Archival chromogenic prints, flush-mounted on aluminium, hand-painted in oil.


Presented in an artist’s frame, secured with 99% UV-protective glass.

Titled, numbered in pencil (on the revers of the flush-mount)

Total image size:
H. 53.0 in ; W. 79.5 in / H. 134.67 ; W. 202 cm

Individual prints:
33,672 on the piece
H. 0.29 in ; W. 0.43 in / H. 0.73 ; W. 1.1 cm

Edition of/2

Price upon request

NARCISSUS’ FIELD

For narcissistic people, their greatest delight is themselves. This image is composed from a sequence of seven photographs in which, through multiple exposure, the same single person appears in different positions engaging in sexual activity with themselves—sometimes “one-on-one,” sometimes in an “orgy.”

The seven-image sequence was arranged by an AI into a “Latin square” so that, following the chronological order 1–7, the same image never appears twice in any row or any column of the grid; this way we always see the locations of intercourse in a different order both vertically and horizontally. The final image is built from this 7×7 sequence.

The AI received the following instruction for developing the Field: be human. In response to that instruction it produced a certain patterned repetition, and it injected what might be our most human trait into the equation: it made a mistake—repeating the same number within a single row.

During assembly of the image, people diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder were invited into the studio; they hand-painted the patterning and the image numbers directly onto the photographs.

Each participant also signed the back of the final work – “we owe its success to their achievement.”

Close-up view:
Detail of the 7×7 Latin square arrangement, showing the chronological sequence of the seven images distributed across the grid. Each row and column contains each image only once, creating a unique pattern of repetition and variation.

THE FIELD OF NARCISES

2023

Archival chromogenic prints, flush-mounted on aluminium, hand-painted in oil.


Presented in an artist’s frame, secured with 99% UV-protective glass.

Titled, numbered in pencil (on the revers of the flush-mount)

Total image size:
H. 53.0 in ; W. 79.5 in / H. 134.67 ; W. 202 cm

Individual prints:
33,672 on the piece
H. 0.29 in ; W. 0.43 in / H. 0.73 ; W. 1.1 cm

Edition of/2