Learning Curve, 1993
Mixed media installation
Video projector, plastic, plywood and stainless steel combined table/chair construction, one laserdisc player and one laserdisc (color; silent)
Dimensions: 35 x 128 x 204 in. (89 x 325 x 535 cm.)
Edition of two and one artist’s proof
Learning Curve is the first of two works that uses the classic school chair/desk (the kind that wraps around the seated person – in this instance for right-handed people) as a point of departure. The table slowly inclines, extending out 17 feet 6 inches (5.35 m.) and widens to nearly 10 feet 8 inches (3.25 m.). At the end of the table, a slightly curved projection screen, 30 inches (76 cm.) high, is mounted at the edge. Visible on the screen is a moving image of a perfect right breaking wave (the wave curls or tubes from one end to the other, producing a continuous curve that seemingly stands still—the G(reen)-spot for a surfer). The work is at once an homage to surfing and a literal construction of the praxis/theory dichotomy (the one with a steep learning curve).
An example of this work was first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art, Oxford, England, from November 7, 1993 – January 9, 1994 as part of the exhibition, “Gary Hill: In Light of the Other.” Travelled to The Tate Gallery, Liverpool, England, February 26 – May 2, 1994.
“Gary Hill,” (travelling exhibition organized by the Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington), Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, D. C., February 17 – May 8, 1994; Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, June 10 – August 14, 1994; Guggenheim Museum SoHo, New York, New York, May 11 – August 20, 1995; Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art, Kansas City, Missouri, October 14, 1995 – January 14, 1996.
“Gary Hill,” Musée d’art contemporain, Lyon, France, May 26 – September 19, 1994.
“Cocido y Crudo,” Museo Nacionale Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain, December 14, 1994 – March 6, 1995.
“The Twentieth-Century: The Age of Modern Art,” Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany, May 7 – July 27, 1997; Royal Academy of Art, London, England, September 11 – December 14, 1997.
St. Norbert Arts and Cultural Centre, St. Norbert, Manitoba, Canada, July 3 – September 1, 1998.
“Surf Trip: Surf Culture Art and Artifacts,” Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, California, May 12 – July 23, 2000.
"Punto de Partida," Fundación Santander, Madrid, Spain, February 20 – June 11, 2017.
"Gary Hill: Momentombs," Suwon Art Museum, Suwon, Korea, November 26, 2019 — March 6, 2020.
Gary Hill: In Light of the Other. Oxford: Museum of Modern Art Oxford; Liverpool: The Tate Gallery Liverpool, 1993, pp. 5, 9, 32 – 34.
Den Hartog Jager, Hans. “Droomwereld.” HP de Tijd (September 3, 1993), p. 115.
Bruce, Chris. Gary Hill. Seattle, Washington: Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, 1994, pp. 65, 90 – 95.
Drake, Chris. “Gary Hill, Museum of Modern Art, Oxford.” Frieze 14 (January/February 1994), p. 56.
Fredericksen, Eric. “Gary Hill.” The Stranger, Seattle (June 21 – 27, 1994).
Barcott, Bruce. “I was a camera. Art: Gary Hill straps on his video equipment and takes us for a walk.” Seattle Weekly (June 22, 1994), p. 30.
Hixson, Kathryn. “Gary Hill. Museum of Contemporary Art.” New Art Examiner, Chicago (November 1994), pp. 40, 41.
3e biennale d’art cotemporain de lyon: installation, cinéma, vidéo, informatique. Paris: Réunion des musées nationaux, Biennale d’art contemporain, Paris, 1995, p. 175.
Duncan, Michael. “In Plato’s electronic cave.” Art in America 83, 6 (June 1995), pp. 68 – 71.
Pederson, Victoria. “Photographic memories. Gallery Go ‘Round.” (New York City) Paper (June 1995).
Villaseñor, Maria Christina. “Bound Spaces.” Art Journal 54, 4 (1995), p. 96.
Quasha, George and Charles Stein. Gary Hill: HanD HearD/liminal objects. Paris: Galerie des Archives; Barrytown, New York: Station Hill Arts, 1996, unpaginated.
Lestocart, Louis-José. “Gary Hill: Surfer sur le medium / Surfing the Medium.” art press 210 (February 1996), pp. 24 – 26.
Van Assche, Christine. “Six Questions to Gary Hill.” Parachute 84 (October, November, December 1996), p. 43.
Joachimides, Christos M. and Norman Rosenthal, eds. The Age of Modernism. Art in the 20th Century. Ostfildern-Ruit, Germany: Verlag Gerd Hatje, 1997, cat no. 327.
Quasha, George and Charles Stein. Tall Ships. Gary Hill’s Projective Installations 2. Barrytown, New York: Station Hill Arts, 1997, p. 8.
Quasha, George and Charles Stein. Viewer. Gary Hill’s Projective Installations 3. Barrytown, New York: Station Hill Arts, 1997, p. 9.
Dantas, Marcello. Gary Hill: O lugar do outro/where the other takes place. Rio de Janeiro: Magnetoscópio, 1997, p. 55.
97 Kwangju Biennale: Unmapping the Earth. Kwangju, Korea: Kwangju Biennale Press, 1997, p. 65.
Petho, Bertalan. post-postmodernism: The Nineties: Opinions and Philosophical Investigations Concerning Our Change of Era. Budapest: Platon, 1997, pp. xx – xxi, 295, 320, 321, 336.
Wißmann, Kathrin. “Der Moment vor der Ekstase: Katsushika Hokusai, Gustave Courbet, Gary Hill: Künstler, dem Geheimnis der Welle auf der Spur.” mare 3 (August/September 1997), pp. 92, 93.
Bélisle, Josée. Gary Hill. Montreal: Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, 1998, p. 37.
Der elektronische Raum: 15 Positionen zur Medienkunst. Bonn: Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Dueuschland, 1998, p. 149.
Galasso, Alessandra. “California Dreaming: Sbarcano in Italia i video del surfista dell’immagine.” Arte, Italy, No. 313 (September 1999), pp. 167 - 168.
Morgan, Robert C., ed. Gary Hill. Baltimore: PAJ Books / The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000, pp. 8, 105 – 106, 107, 119, 238 – 239.
Gary Hill: Instalaciones. Córdoba: Ediciones Museo Caraffa, 2000, pp. 12, 14, 54.
Quasha, George and Charles Stein. La performance elle-même in Gary Hill: Around & About: A Performative View. Paris: Éditions du Regard, 2001, p. 70.
Rowlands, Penelope. “Gary Hill’s Hall of Mirrors.” ARTnews 100, 5 (May 2001), pp. 177.
Gary Hill: Selected Works and catalogue raisonné. (Wolfsburg: Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, 2002), GHCR 78, pp. 173 – 175.
Israel, Glenis. Artwise 2: Visual Arts 7 – 10. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd., 2002, pp. 21.
Spielmann, Yvonne. Video: The Reflexive Medium. Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2008, p. 251 (photo only).
Quasha, George and Charles Stein. An Art of Limina: Gary Hill’s Works and Writings. Barcelona: Ediciones Polígrafa, 2009, pp. 223, 285, 313, 583.
Israel, Glenis. Artwise 2: Visual Arts 9 – 10. Second Edition. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd., 2011, pp. 69 – 71.