The Line of Saved
2001
Installation, 125059 mm (at present).
Materials: silk ribbons (page savers) from missals, bell jar and plinth
Collection: Collection Cathey Webb.
The Line of Saved was an ongoing work by Andrew Webb that he started on the 3rd of October 1997, in Antwerp, Belgium. The artist had started to collect 'missals' with which he intended to build a representation of the Tower of Babel.
The Line of Saved was 130532mm in 2008. The bell jar protects and at the same time allows ‘the line’ – a common motif in the history of modernism – to be drawn out, adopting various forms, changing its appearance in differing presentations.
The line is constructed in sections all of which are recorded in the List Of Saved, some were given titles such as Nu Saved, Not and Pauvre Nous. The sections are traceable by their colour sequences as they were found in the missals i.e.; purple, green, rose, green, purple or gold, gold or red, green, white etc. This ongoing work is also shown with ‘supplements’ such as Extract, a piece taken from the line and framed or No Not, a single piece of ribbon found and framed, both of which are measured and added to the list.
‘Shown once, in 1999, with the ‘lintjes’ [ribbon] fallen to the ground in a random heap and second, 2000, with the ribbons criss-crossing the ceiling of the space at a precise angle each time the line met the wall.’ (A. Webb)
