Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted

Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted
Silkscreen on acrylic
12.7 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm, 1999

View and rotate in 3D:
400 x 264 pixels, 544 Kb

(see below for download and playing info)
Requires APPLE QUICKTIME Plugin



Rotation: Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted

Rotation: Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted
Silkscreen on acrylic
12.7 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm, 1999

250 x 1875 pixels, 146 Kb



Wittgenstein's Trap

Wittgenstein's Trap
Pure silver cube
15.2 x 15.2 x 15.2 cm, 1999

375 x 500 pixels, 37 Kb



Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted

Wittgenstein's Dilemma, Inverted
Silkscreen on acrylic
12.7 x 12.7 x 12.7 cm, 1999

375 x 500 pixels, 28 Kb



 

Cubes

The series of cubes began with a cage of wire made for The Globe Theatre's production of The 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.

TP's notes from his exhibition at Charleston House, 2003


Both cubes find their structure in words. The calligraphy, fissures of curve and isoscelean angles that grew from the wire sculptures of 1997, spell out Wittgenstein's provocative assertion, "The limits of my language are the limits of my world."

The phrase, spelled out twice on each side of the cubes, manage to simultaneously concur with and refute the statement. The words create the structure, and yet to read them through to the other side, especially in the case of Wittgenstein's Dilemma Inverted, where they're printed in reverse, thus requiring the viewer to read through the center of the solid lucite and the infinite shifting reflections therein, the words embody limitlessness.

The two-dimensional letters fuse together to create a three-dimensional structure, which then suggest further dimensions. Are not those further dimensions often painted with the colors of music?

Notes by John Pull for TP exhibition in Fort Worth TX, 2001

 

3D Cube: Download and playing instructions
QuickTime Viewer with WDI
fig. 1
  1. Click here to download the 3D cube.
  2. If you already have the QuickTime plugin, it will open and resemble fig. 1. Skip to STEP 4, below.
  3. If instead your browser asks you to specify an application, browse the list and click on "QuickTime." If it doesn't appear, click here and follow the download and install instructions. After install, begin again with STEP 1, above.
  4. When the cube is open in the QuickTime player, mouse over it, CLICK AND HOLD the your primary mouse button, and drag the mouse from left to right.

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