WORLDLINE was implemented simultaneously on March 5, 1971, creating a virtual line around the globe with visible segments laid down in twenty-five art institutions in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Finland, Iceland, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, the United States, Yugoslavia, and other countries. These institutions’ participation, each constituting one waystation along the Worldline, was the work in itself. The achievement, exceedingly complex at the time, required the contribution of an engineer who, using a computer, calculated the precise position of each line segment, taking into account the curvature of the Earth. This publication documents every step in the production of this undertaking—a process that took three years—and includes the artist’s correspondence, geodesic calculations, and images of the various participating sites.
A second work, entitled Bill Vazan. All over la planète, also published by VOX, centre de l’image contemporaine, accompanies this re-publication, and seeks to contextualize this major project within the artist’s overall body of work.
Re-publication printed in 500 copies.
