Art Institute of Chicago

One Inch to a Foot

John Knight

1971

Attribution

John Knight American, born 1945

Medium

Overhead projector, photo-negative glass plate

Physical dimensions

67.3 × 33 × 33 × 365.8 cm (26 ½ × 13 × 13 × 144 in.), installed

Credit line

Through prior purchase with funds provided by Mr. and Mrs. Solomon B. Smith; Watson F. Blair Prize and Mr. and Mrs. Frank G. Logan Purchase Prize Fund; purchased with funds provided by Dorie Sternberg; Emilie L. Wild Prize Fund; Contemporary Art Discretionary Fund; through the generosity of Carol Greene

From the museum

Since the late 1960s, John Knight has addressed the ideologies of built and designed space, often through existing systems of visual communication not generally associated with art making. The title phrase of his important early work One Inch to a Foot makes obvious reference to scale notations on architectural plans. It is etched in one-inch high, Helvetica letters on the plate of a standard overhead projector; once projected, each letter measures one foot in height. Thus a representational convention of architectural plans is physically enacted, and the work carves out real space as well: the projector requires 15 feet of distance from the wall in order to execute the title statement. One Inch to a Foot is technically portable but always establishes a direct relationship to its site of installation.

Description: Art Institute of Chicago · CC BY 4.0