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The Limits of My Language Are the Limits of My World, 1999

 Item — Box: 166
Identifier: CC-40358-42329

Scope and Contents

For this piece, Tom Phillips lettered the text in the style he used for his text based wall sculptures. Each letter is linked to adjacent ones. The sentence of the title is repeated twice on each surface of the cube. The text is by the philospher Ludwig Wittgenstein.Phillips writes, "The series of cubes began with a cage of wire made for The Globe Theatre's production of A Winter's Tale. A cage of wire words followed to exemplify Wittgenstein's proposition 'The Limits of My Language are the Limits of My World'. Printing this on an acrylic cube where the inside can be seen and, by an oddity of optics, experienced from the outside seemed to unite the reading of a statement with its perception as a metaphor. Reversing the text on the outside in a later version emphasised the trap of language that Wittgenstein describes." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Dates

  • Creation: 1999

Creator

Extent

1 item (1 poem object) : 1 cube (acrylic, silkscreen) ; 13 x 13 x 13 cm

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Original Sackner Archive Location

alcove hallway 2nd floor

Custodial History

The Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry, gift of from Ruth and Marvin A. Sackner and the Sackner Family Partnership.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Tom Phillips, 1999.

Materials Specific Details

Published: London, England : [Publisher not identified]. Nationality of creator: British. Copies: About 10 total copies.

Processing Information

Added by: RUTH; updated by: MARVIN.

Repository Details

Part of the The Ruth and Marvin Sackner Archive of Concrete and Visual Poetry Repository

Contact:
125 W. Washington St.
Main Library
Iowa City Iowa 52242 United States
319-335-5921