Ann Hamilton (American, b. 1956) Book Weight tt, (human carriage), 2009-2010 Archival ink jet print Miami University Art Museum purchase 2010.94
Ann Hamilton’s book weights tt (human carriage) spans
multiple art-making processes, including sewing, sculpture,
and printmaking. It serves as documentation for a portion of
Hamilton’s human carriage installation at the Guggenheim
Museum—dynamic sculpture of dismembered and rejoined
books (like the stack in this print)—descending a single pipe
running down the length of the rotunda. The silence of
beholding this print stands in contrast to the musical
experience of the work’s sculptural and performative
elements. The way in which Hamilton divided and reassembled
the books to form colorblocked cross-sections mimics quilt-
making in both a physical and aesthetic sense. Her process
excludes the viewer from the knowledge of the
words in the books themselves.