Untitled (Do you feel comfortable losing?)

Details

BARBARA KRUGER (b. 1945)
Untitled (Do you feel comfortable losing?)
32 pieces in red and black corian with miniature speakers, red corian and printed board with integral electronic and computer components, 2006, number A/P 1/3, one of three artist's proof sets aside from the edition of seven, published by RS & A. Ltd., London, within the original metal and carbon-fibre flight case with foam interior and printed exterior
King 179 mm., Pawn 79 mm.
Case 1019 x 945 x 230 mm.

Literature

Yves Marek, Art échecs et mat, Editions de l’imprimerie nationale, Paris, 2008, p. 183 (p. 174-175, ill.).
George Dean, Chess Masterpieces. One thousand years of extraordinary chess sets, Harry N. Abrams New York, 2010 (p. 259, ill.).

Exhibited

The Art of Chess, Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow (exh. cat), 2006 (p. 26-27, ill.).
32 Pieces: The Art of Chess, Reykjavik Art Museum, Iceland (exh. cat), 24 January - 13 April 2009 (p. 81-83, ill.).
The Art of Chess, Dox Centre of Contemporary Art, Prague (exh. cat), 2010 (p. 26, ill.).
The Waste Land, Turner Contemporary, Margate, 3 February-7 May 2018.

Special Notice

Artist's Resale Right ("Droit de Suite"). Artist's Resale Right Regulations 2006 apply to this lot, the buyer agrees to pay us an amount equal to the resale royalty provided for in those Regulations, and we undertake to the buyer to pay such amount to the artist's collection agent. This lot will be removed to Christie’s Park Royal. Christie’s will inform you if the lot has been sent offsite. Our removal and storage of the lot is subject to the terms and conditions of storage which can be found at Christies.com/storage and our fees for storage are set out in the table below - these will apply whether the lot remains with Christie’s or is removed elsewhere. Please call Christie’s Client Service 24 hours in advance to book a collection time at Christie’s Park Royal. All collections from Christie’s Park Royal will be by pre-booked appointment only. Tel: +44 (0)20 7839 9060 Email: cscollectionsuk@christies.com. If the lot remains at Christie’s it will be available for collection on any working day 9.00 am to 5.00 pm. Lots are not available for collection at weekends.

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Lot Essay

Barbara Kruger is renowned for her hard-hitting public art interventions that utilise the language of advertising to question stereotypes relating to gender and race. In her chess set, a red-framed, close-cropped photo of a face with eyes shut and mouth open provides the background upon which the grid of the board is scored. The face expression is highly ambiguous: is it shouting in glee, crying in pain or swallowing defeat? Despite drawing loose formal inspiration from the chess designs of Man Ray (see lots 3, 5 & 6) and Hartwig (lots 1 & 2), it is John Cage’s 1968 Reunion performance that provides the conceptual background for the work. Kruger has produced a unique chess set where each piece on the board is a miniature speaker. Every chess piece contains a series of different audio recordings from classic Kruger questions such as ‘What’s up with your hair’ or provocative announcements like ‘You feel comfortable losing’ and ‘You can’t be serious’. When heard together during the course of a game their real voices construct an audio conversational piece that parallels the act of playing chess.

This work is accompanied by a certificate issued by the publisher and signed by the artist.

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