Building by the Book
The Ten Books of Vitruvius
Line
Plane
Volume
The Installation Building by the Book includes the following four artworks: The Ten Books of Vitruvius, Line, Plane, Volume.
The Ten Books of Vitruvius
1996
tarpaper, steel, wood, hand-stamped debossed text
108"H x 220"W x 48"D
A series of sculptural books with texts edited from the work of Vitruvius, the Roman architect from 1st century B.C.E. The texts, while nominally about relationships in architecture, are edited to refer to human relationships - strength, weakness, chaos and order. The reader/viewer straddles the strut work to read the books.
Line
1996
steel cable and rod, handmade amate bark paper
156"H x 180"W x 108"D
The steel cable and turnbuckles serve as an elaborate binding for the translucent accordion book. The material interacting with the light, acts as the text wherein the viewer reads everything and nothing at the same time.
Plane
1996
slabs of slate, steel; 6” cube of handmade abaca paper
96"H x 72"W x 42"D
The heaviness of the slate and sense of compression of the paper box is contradicted by the weightlessness of the installation.
Volume
1996
tarpaper, zinc grommets, sandblasted steel bridle rings and coupler
156"H x 18"W x 324"D
Tarpaper columns evoke a sense of density, mass and architectural integrity, at the same time that they are hollow and float off the ground.
Photos by Rik Sferra