P+L+P+L+P=VSI VSI FORMULA No. 10
Artist
N. E. Thing Co.
(Canadian, 1966 - 1978)
Artist
Iain Baxter&
(Canadian, born 1936)
Artist
Ingrid Baxter
(American, born 1938)
Date1970
Mediumlithograph
Dimensions45.7 x 33.6 cm
Credit LineThe Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Gift of Gerald Ferguson 1986.
Object number1986.13.6.a-e
Classificationsprint
On View
Not on viewInfluenced by the theories of Marshall McLuhan, the Vancouver-based collaborators N.E. Thing Co. (NETCO), comprised of Ingrid Baxter and Iain Baxter&, left a lasting impression on conceptual art in Canada and abroad. Founded in 1966 and dissolved in 1978, NETCO engaged in many unconventional ventures, both actual and nonsensical, including a vacuum-formed plastic shop, printmaking, photography, a publications bureau and even a restaurant, Eye Scream.
Often employing satire and the language of bureaucracy, they playfully created new categories for describing art, for example SIS (Sensitivity Information Services) and VSI (Visual Sensory Information). In 1969, their work was chosen as the cover of the magazine Art in America, in an issue looking at conceptual art practices. The following year, while teaching a course at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, they were invited to the school’s Lithography Workshop, where they used the magazine cover image to produce this print.
Often employing satire and the language of bureaucracy, they playfully created new categories for describing art, for example SIS (Sensitivity Information Services) and VSI (Visual Sensory Information). In 1969, their work was chosen as the cover of the magazine Art in America, in an issue looking at conceptual art practices. The following year, while teaching a course at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, they were invited to the school’s Lithography Workshop, where they used the magazine cover image to produce this print.
