Earths Grows Thick

by bell hooks, Roni Horn, Felix Gonzalez-Torres

Emily Dickinson's poems stand alone in the English language in their severe yet wild shapeliness and unhindered dexterity of thought. In Earths Grow Thick , the American artist Roni Horn put those poems--or lines from them--to new uses, incorporating her words in a series of austere, stick-like sculptures. Horn makes similar use of William Blake, but her sympathy with the work of Dickinson is clear, and results in a beautiful form or word sculpture. This handsome catalogue is published in conjunction with the first exhibition to present the four bodies of Horn's work comprising the Dickinson sculptures. The illustrations are complemented by texts ranging from Judith Fox's interview with Horn to bell hooks' intimate recollections of her childhood introduction to Dickinson's work.

Genres: Poetry, Art

Paperback

First published January 2, 1996

About the author

bell hooks (deliberately in lower-case; born Gloria Jean Watkins) was an African-American author, feminist, and social activist. Her writing focused on the interconnectivity of race, class, and gender and their ability to produce and perpetuate systems of oppression and domination. She published over thirty books and numerous scholarly and mainstream articles, appeared in several documentary films and participated in various public lectures. Primarily through a postmodern female perspective, she addressed race, class, and gender in education, art, history, sexuality, mass media and feminism.