Just the Shaping of Letters
- Title
- Just the Shaping of Letters
- LC Subject
- Pottery Alphabet Icons Sculpture Stoneware ceramic (material)
- Creator
- Wolfston, Betsy
- Description
- Betsy Wolfston designed, fabricated and installed twenty-three stoneware wall boxes, each 12 x 12 x 3 inches, and a stoneware sculpture bust. This was a site-specific commsion based on the Latin alphabet inspired by drawings of Albrecht Durer. (Wolfston, 2003) Betsy Wolfston; 2000; U of O Law Library; B, P, C, G The Oregon Arts Commission has ten Regional Arts Councils that provide delivery of art services and information. The Council for this location is Lane Arts. You may view their website at http://www.lanearts.org
- View
- detail
- Location
- William W. Knight Law Center >> Lane County >> Oregon >> United States Lane County >> Oregon >> United States
- Street Address
- 1515 Agate Street, Eugene Oregon
- Date
- 1975/2012
- Identifier
- 1998_uo_knight-law_09_a02
- Accession Number
- 1998_uo_knight-law_09_a02
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Dc Rights Holder
- Wolfston, Betsy
- Type
- Image
- Format
- image/tiff
- Measurements
- 12 x 12 x 3 inches each
- Material
- Ceramic art; Sculpture cone 10 Newcomb clay- stoneware, underglazes, glazes, epoxy, paint
- Set
- Oregon Percent for Art
- Primary Set
- Oregon Percent for Art
- Relation
- 1998-1999 University of Oregon Knight Law Center moveable and integrated artwork 1998_uo_knight-law
- Has Version
- slide; color
- Institution
- Oregon Arts Commission University of Oregon
- Color Space
- RGB
- Biographical Information
- This alphabet series was inspired from a work titled "Of the Just Shaping of Letters From The Applied Geometry of Albrecht Durer". The series consist of 23 letters - the Latin alphabet - which I felt added a sense of history, mystery and classical beauty. THEME The overall piece consist of 23 boxes, one for each letter of the alphabet. Each letter acts as a vehicle to create an image, a thought, an emotion that relates to it. Each box is personalised, using themes of philosophy, science, nature and poetry, layering stories and information within the work itself All the letters have a sense of relating to each other by means of clay body, color, size, style and lettering, yet each have their own story to tell.. THE TWENTY-FORTH ELEMENT In evaluating the space in which the pieces would be installed, noticed that the uneven number of letters would leave a blank space in the wall. For that, I created an additional element identified as "the last letter", a figurative sculptured bust adorn with the characteristic line drawing and three dimensionnal egg-shaped pieces that spill from the head, suggesting an image of the fertility of the intellect. it is installed directly on the wood shelf. I believe this adds a sense of completion, while including the existing shelf in the design of the piece. (Wolfston, 1998)
