Raqs Media Collective, Please Do Not Touch the Work of Art, Carved faux marble panel, 42 x 30 x 0.5 inches, 2006/2016 

Raqs Media Collective present an ironic monument to the persuasive powers of art, carved in stone for posterity printed as postcards for disposable distribution. The series of possibilities in the words that constitute the statement ‘Please Do Not Touch the Work of Art’ are prised open by rearranging them to form statements of an almost identical length, that bear very different attitudes. The gravitas of the “marble” ascribes to each iteration of the statements an ‘elevated’ value. The work’s whimsical attitude asks for a greater degree of latitude for that realm of practice and discursivity that we call art.