My works begins with an encounter with images and objects that carry fingerprints, signs of usage, the character of handwriting. I am interested in these personal marks as representations of social phenomena — patterns of behavior, thought, and action.
Disposable coffee cup rest on a sidewalk, it is there since the morning. A grade sheet of the seventh-grade fell from a teacher’s diary, now it is all crumpled up. Two hours’ brainstorm summed up on a Starbucks napkin, the handwriting is legible but the conclusion remains unclear.
I look at the fashion we organize our private worlds. The spaces we work in, the information we possess. The things we want to remember. The plans for the future. Some times actions that are done haphazardly, almost unintentional. And times semi- sacred ritualistic ceremonies. The imagery I work with arises from collecting, surveillance, and observance. Papers, files, presentation slides, transparent office doors. At some point, I am comfortable making copies of my own, variations of the source, until it is embedded and forgotten.
My tools are cameras, office printers, scanners, and stationery. I find the digital space to be utterly physical, the handwriting shutters to sprays of ink. The movement between Different modes of presentation allows me to strip particular layers of information and to stress the others. The final pieces are the product of printing, drawing, and placing.
In the past two years I look, photograph, stay, and study various work environments, using different mind mapping techniques as tools to lay impressions on top of each other.
— Tomer Fruchter