Lapsus 14

Over a period of several years, Robert Bean, like an archaeologist, collected the scraps of papers, photographs, twist-ties and paperclips that people had discarded, lost or left behind. He placed each on a white background and photographed them as if they were specimens. The word “lapsus” means a “slip,” “error” or “lapse”; for the artist, the objects also represent the traces of people’s lives and, in some cases, their small neuroses. Bits of twist-ties are formed into a stick man; wire is coiled into a mini sculpture; and torn-up pieces of notes provide glimpses into very personal aspects of people’s lives.