May Cornet

(UK) *1975 in London

May Cornet won this year’s Rotary-Club Bad Homburg-Schloß prize for new talent. She chose as the material for her installation “All the 'O's in Italian” an issue of the Italian daily “Gazzettino di Venezia”. Cornet cut out all the examples of the letter “O”, which for her is suggestive of the sound of the Italian language. She then assembled the newspaper pages on light-boxes so that the empty spaces are lit up brightly and have a far stronger presence than the letters did. As part of the work, all the letters she cut out are presented as a pile. Her piece entitled “Portable Garden” initially seems to be a paradox. Various objects can be extracted from a small wooden box and arranged to form a miniature garden. Despite their small size, the figures possess a sculptural presence. The three ducks and the small triumphal arch are reminiscent of toys. This memory of an innocent time is quite deliberate. “Portable Garden” can be interpreted as a haven which we can associate with our own memories and thoughts. It is a place you can carry with you as a “Portable Garden” and in the form of memories and thoughts.