Gerard Hovagimyan
Control Designators

Gerard Hovagimyan made use of three types of designators to direct the vIewers experience of the space at 112: 100 number codes indicating the surface topologies of the space, three visual sighting devices functioning like a gunsight to locate 100 points in the space, and 100 language signs giving directions for ways to think about the space and move around within the space. The system was based on Piaget’s theory of child development as opposed to adult intellectual development. Thus, the basic matrix of the artist’s code was related to a progression from undifferentiated surface topology through geometric triangulation to the linear sense of language experienced in reading. [from a conversation with the artist]

Excerpted from Brentano, R., & Savitt, M. (1981). 112 Workshop, 112 Greene Street: History, artists & artworks. New York: New York University Press.