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A New Chapter challenges the relationship between viewers and an artwork by inviting viewers to walk through an apparently impenetrable wall of rope in the middle of the gallery. To force your way through the almost one-metre-thick curtain, which consists of more than 3,000 lengths of rope, is in itself a challenge that tests personal limitations. Your intuitive reaction might be that you do not want to penetrate it; the bodily discomfort can develop into a psychological blockage.

Overcoming hindrances is a common theme in fairy tales and other collective cultural narratives. This is combined with observations of popular culture, societal structures and behaviours, all of which form a basis for exploring what it takes to call something an experience in our often-overstimulated everyday lives.

The installation’s title indicates that this is only one chapter, and it doesn’t necessarily have greater significance than other chapters. To overcome a challenge is a subjective experience, so there are many chapters. The passageway in the gallery is a physical manifestation and a unified or combined expression for the individual experiences of overcoming challenges, and it gives us time and an opportunity to reflect over the experience.