Artists Notes : 2007.
From Starmaps to Starman (via the Helvetic System and Edelweiss).

2005 saw the beginning of a series of works that I collectively refer to as ‘starmaps’. Starmaps are based on an idea that came to mind whilst visiting an exhibition of ancient texts known as the 'Dead sea Scrolls'. The written symbols used by the ancient writers resembled to my mind the mapping of mountains and at the same time diagrams of star systems. It was a simple mental step to superimpose the two and imagine maps of the earth that appeared like maps of the cosmos. This duality is a central theme within starmaps. For no matter how much starmaps may look like maps of the stars, they are not. In reality starmaps simple map summits, both high and low.
The first starmap resulted from of an invitation by Béatrice Josse the director of the Frac Lorraine to take part in the exhibition ‘When Latitudes Become Swiss’. The work took the form of a wall-painting entitled Edelweiss, depicting Switzerland in its entirety at a scale of 1:50000; in which summits where represented as white dots and the rest of the country was painted a shade of blue black. To locate the summits accurately it was necessary to obtain all 78 individual 1:50000 maps of Switzerland. Locating the summits was a work in itself and took considerably longer than the painting.
Following the exhibition these maps, used only for reference, were all that remained of Edelweiss. It occurred to me that the work could continue if I were to apply the same process directly to the surface of the 78 commercially made maps. I decided to do this and named this second work The Helvetic System, a title originally intended for the first work but shelved in preference to Edelweiss. The Helvetic System was intended not only to be emblematic of Edelweiss but also to take the notion of duality one step further and beyond visible concerns, by presenting the labour as artwork and the product as a map and therefore posing the questions of ‘where is’ and ‘what is’ the art? There were also economic concerns; as an artist, the question of how to establish a direct system of economy between the artist and the art institutions was for me very relevant.
From the outset The Helvetic System was presented as a contract between myself, and the Frac Lorraine. Once agreed and the contract signed, the Frac Lorraine would receive each month three maps in exchange for a monthly cheque. The work and process of exchange would then be repeated for twenty six months by which time all 78 maps would be completed and paid for. The Helvetic System began in January 2006 and will end in March 2008. The Helvetic System is at the same time both an experimental artwork and a traditional object based artwork. Whilst claiming that the starmaps are simply maps it is almost impossible within the context of art not to claim that they are also art. The paradoxes within this protocol are clear but at the same time the questions raised are both interesting and important concerning the nature of the art object and exactly what is being paid for; the art, the labour, or both? A interesting aspect of this work is that each time three maps are completed, they are simple folded up, placed in an envelope and posted by regular mail to the Frac.
Aside from the particularities of Edelweiss and The Helvetic System, starmap are not solely restricted to Switzerland or for that matter, high mountains. The idea has expanded, crossing geographically and formal boarders. There are starmaps for Brussels, Metz, the village of Sainte-Croix-Vallée-Française in the Cévennes, and later this year, one of Paris. A proposal for a planetarium, also exist, though I imagine this will never be realized beyond the model stage. In a resent line of work the link with the mountain is broken all together, and replaced with guitar chords from the song Starman by David Bowie.
This last work in a way brings the idea of the starmap full-circle, as aside from issues expressed within The Helvetic System, starmaps are a fundamental response to wonder and reverie, they are about gazing at phenomena and allowing imagination to wander, leading one to make new connections, discoveries and creations, independent of their point of origin. For myself and a generation of young British teenagers, the image of David Bowie singing Starman on British Television in 1972 was exactly this. A phenomena, a point of departure.

Neal Beggs. 09-2007.