Nick Taggart | The Sleep Piece

COLLABORATION WITH LAURA COOPER

The Sleep Piece (Exterior of Unconsciousness, One Photograph Every Morning Before Waking) was a collaboration by Laura Cooper and Nick Taggart, begun in 1993. Laura is asleep in each original black and white Polaroid photograph. If she is awake no photograph is taken that day. Once taken, no photograph is omitted. The piece is exhibited as a single growing installation, mounted directly onto the wall with archival photo corners, chronologically arranged in blocks of 30 prints. Due to the film being discontinued, the final photo – the 7,474th photograph – was taken on May 24, 2021.

The Sleep Piece / 1993-2021 / Installation at Angles Gallery, Santa Monica, CA / July- August 2003

The Sleep Piece / detail