Archive Afterlife

Posted on September 1, 2019 by Ties Ten Bosch

Found medical archive of the closed down Zitza factory in Zeitz, put in an old cupboard, 2100 hand-made paper sheets made from part of the found medical files, 45 binder mechanisms, a found role of decayed paper and a built-in shelf.

During IPIHAN#9 we worked in the building of the Zitza cosmetic factory in Zeitz. In the building that was abandoned for over 25 years I found a lot of medical files of former employees all spread out over the building, laying on the floors, half wet and rotten. I collected as many still readable files and used them for this installation. A part ended up in the found cupboard and the other part I ‘cleaned’ by making it into over 2100 sheets of new paper.

The installation exists of three elements: the role of decayed paper and the cupboard with the found medical archive, but situated in a field of small stacks of recycled archive paper.