increasing decrease, decreasing increase

The second version of the work the more…, the less… (1969), in which the digits from one to nine and from nine to one are arranged in two separate lines, complemented by the digit “0” placed between the lines at their beginning and end. The new, reduced version contains the digits from “1” to “9” and from “9” to “1” – without “0” – written in outline and overlapping in both ascending and descending order. The author’s title, indicating the linguistic inspiration of this numerically based work, suggests a theme related to the passage of time expressed through paradox (decreasing may increase, and increasing may decrease). Dróżdż frequently employed paradox – a figure favoured by ancient Greek philosophers as pointing to metaphysical meanings that are difficult to define. The work has been presented as handwritten emulsion on primed fibreboard, as a photographic print and as a digital print on paper mounted on a rigid support.