Multiplex

From 1965 to 1973, Chimes created a series of metal box constructions—some with working gears and kinetic elements, others overtly erotic, many incorporating obscure or coded language. The title Multiplex refers both to systems that transmit multiple signals over a single channel and to multi-screen cinemas.

Chimes’s own “signals” are deliberately cryptic. The mathematical forms inside combine technical diagramming and symbolic geometry: concentric circles akin to polar-coordinate plots, Cartesian grids, and Euclidean constructions. Inscriptions include “eros"; "champ, du,” a reference to the great conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp; “site: Ex-tropo,” meaning “from a trope” (suggesting metaphoric language); and “mnemo,” likely shorthand for a mnemonic device. These fragments hint at the artist’s sources and preoccupations without fully revealing them.

Multiplex also pays direct homage to Duchamp. Like Duchamp’s The Large Glass (1915-23, Philadelphia Museum of Art)—which itself fuses eroticism and machinery—Chimes’s box is organized into upper and lower zones. Diagrams of a shaft-like “trough” and a reference to emissions suggest a realm of bio-mechanical interaction, while a small red electric light lends the work an enigmatic, almost living presence.

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