From 10 June the Leipzig-based artist Ines Spanier occupies her studio in the Museum der bildenden Künste Leipzig, in the Alte Meister gallery, to be precise. Here visitors can observe how the artist continues her "Jerusalem II" drawing, commenced in January 2017. Spanier has been working on this piece for over 18 months and is set to present it to the master student exam board of the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig at the end of September. The fascinating slowness of the process is due to the method used. Spanier uses a pencil to precisely copy private photographs in which human traces can be seen in highly-enlarged resolution, such as the worn surface of a studio table. During the process of transferral, which resembles the actions of a scanner, the photos may be exchanged and combined with one another. The drawing forms a continuously-growing organism that moves beyond the conceptual control of the artist.
In view of the transience of the digital information age, the factor of time acquires a new quality in the creative process of Spanier. Deceleration and thoroughness in the painstaking documentation are central characteristics of the picture, which also reflects the lifetime of the artist.
