Two for One (2023)
Painting diptych, acrylic and oil on polycotton canvas, 180 cm x 120 cm each;
installation, conversations and objects on shelves, 300 cm x 428 cm;
online conversations and loose translations.

Produced with support of BPA// Berlin program for artists.

Exhibited in BPA// Exhibition 2023 – Amid the Alien Corn
25 November 2023 – 7 January 2024
KW Institute for Contemporary Art
KW front house: Auguststraße 69, 10117 Berlin DE

Curator: Sofie Krogh Christensen
Assistant Curator: Sophia Yvette Scherer

Johannes Büttner (in collaboration with Julian Vogel), Grayson Earle, Heyon Han, Sebastian Jefford, Ida Lawrence, Maness, Simone Mine Koza, Bassem Saad, Tian Guoxin, Jasmin Werner

Two for One 

Since forever — or at least since the ’90s — Norm’s Corner Shop has stocked two, maximum three, of each item:

Two bottles of reconstituted orange juice.
Two clear 60 watt screw-in halogen light bulbs.
Two 400 gram tins of peaches.
Two boxes of matches.
Two packets of salt and vinegar chips.
Two toothbrushes: one Hard, one Soft — a Medium average.

It’s like the Noah’s Ark of Corner Shops.

Items sit side-by-side on duck egg blue shelves like a museum display, almost. Instead of text detailing the artefact’s cultural significance or provenance, the object is accompanied by a label — a heady mix of hand-cut cardboard, transparent tape and permanent marker — indicating market value for the benefit of prospective collectors.

Norm of Norm’s Corner Shop knows every resident within a 750 metre radius and greets every customer by name. Children call in and call out on their way to and from school; the high pitched chiming of Hi Norm Hi Norm Hi Norm Hi Norm floats across the street. He is the Number One Community News Source, and certainly up there when it comes to rest-of-the-world news, given his (unusually abundant) collection of newspapers by the entrance.

He also knows I’m an artist. We lean on the ice-cream freezer and chat about exhibitions happening in the city. Norm gives his opinion on the winning entry of a particular portrait prize and asks what I’m painting at the moment. Soon he directs the conversation to the topic of my professional ambitions, listening and challenging me in equal parts. 

Eventually I pull the last bottle of full cream milk from the refrigerator and pay. Norm of Norm’s Corner Shop reaches for the change. ‘Some career advice, Ida’— his hand hovers with the silver coin above my upturned palm —‘You don’t want to flood the market.’ 

He releases the 10 cent piece, then cheerily waves me goodbye and good luck.

Links to further reading:

Installation view BPA// Exhibition 2023 – Amid the Alien Corn at KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin 2023; courtesy the artists Tian Guoxin (foreground), Bassem Saad (left), Ida Lawrence (right); photo: Frank Sperling.

Acknowledgements / credits

Exhibition
Painted story & installation: Ida Lawrence
Wall & shelf construction, RAL 5024 blue painting: KW installation team
Story proof-reading & editing advice: Tanya Vavilova & AnneE Lawrence
Kiwi fruit sticker: Tian Guoxin.

Exhibition booklet
Conversations: Norman Musung & Ida Lawrence
Collage: Donia Jornod
Poster image photography: Eric Bell
Publications coordinator: Anna-Lisa Scherfose.

Eight o’clock dialogue (online)
Conversations: Norman Musung & Ida Lawrence
Graphic design: Éloïse Michel
Audio transcriptions: Khaled Kurbeh 
Conversation edits: Ida Lawrence.

Translation (online)
Loose translation of the story Two for One into German: ORLANDO.

Additional advice, support and conversations which shaped this project
Rob Crosse
Karla Neumeyer
Sophia Hirsch
Federica Partinico
Caitlin Hespe
Benjamin Althammer
Jeremy Ratib
Monika Proba
Nina Linduska
Tahlia Raji
Marie-Christine Fritzsche
Denise Stavrianos
Marie Flood
BPA// mentors
fellow BPA// participants.

Many thanks to BPA// & KW staff including
Sofie Krogh Christensen
Sophia Yvette Scherer
Anna-Lisa Scherfose
Angela Bulloch
Willem de Rooij 
Simon Denny.

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