FROM ZERO TO ONE

From Zero to One examines the boundaries of the impossible. Originally presented as a performance at the Kunstvlaai, Amsterdam (1999), the work combines the equation 4(x·x) – 4(x·x – x)—whose values oscillate between zero and one without repeating—and the puzzle “House X,” which challenges one to traverse each edge of a finite graph exactly once. In the performance, the artist competes absurdly against her own recorded image, embracing failure as the only resolution. From Zero to One questions time, repetition, and our pursuit of the unattainable.

In its subsequent installation form, From Zero to One transforms “House X” into an unsolvable puzzle in three-dimensional space. This spatial twist stages an equally absurd contest between a performer and a computer’s movements, projected for viewers to witness. Through both versions, the work foregrounds the interplay between calculation, physical embodiment, sculptural projection and the inherent paradoxes of trying to do the impossible.