Protons Are Positive

1968

48 x 26 x 26 cm

Letraset on Perspex cone, motorised turntable, text by Liliane Lijn.

This text was inspired by a series of dialogues between the artist and Takis regarding the defining of different people into groups of As, Bs and Neutrals. As were capitalists, Bs were pure working people, and Neutrals were opportunists, constantly switching sides to suit themselves. In 1962, Sinclair Beiles and Takis put William Burroughs on trial at the English Bookshop for the murder of a pure B, his wife. In this work, Lijn transposed the As and Bs into a language based on particle science.

“Invisible Poemkon: the cone becomes transparent. Words float on its almost invisible skin and spin into space.” Lijn

Photography by Richard Wilding 2014