![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Chirologia.jpg?w=512&h=817&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014855&s=e92a4a451467a50f7c6a62396bc156f8 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Chirologia.jpg?w=256&h=408&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014855&s=5dfe1e2837dac6053362e61a20ed035f 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Chirologia.jpg?w=128&h=204&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014855&s=91135a375748ad8ac1ce59deb9b1f6c5 128w)
John Bulwer, Chirologia, or The Natural Language of the Hand, 1644
Found via Public Domain Review
Hands communicate without writing words.
After they press the shutter of a camera.
After they press pencil to paper.
After they carve into stone.
In the 5th century, Saint Augustine wrote that hands functioned as verba visibilia, or ‘visible words' [1]—how they hold, how they drape, how they touch (upon one another, upon objects)—containing within their placement a coded meaning. In art, the position of hands proposes an alternative dictionary of sentiments: signals of blessing, tenderness, surrender, warning. They speak. Sometimes, we catch a glimpse of these familiar gestures at the end of our own arms; the form of our hands becomes an echo of the ‘visible word’ used wrongly. For example, mundane movements (lifting a glass, smoothing sheets, pushing open a door) that recall those we have seen in pictures: pressed against a heavy garment or adorned with rings (nobility), a flower dangling from thin fingertips at the end of a drooping wrist (romance), penetrating the pages of a book (intellect), the contortion of a raised palm (faith). Flashbacks triggered by involuntary mimicry. The silhouette of a hand acts as the reference—closer to the pageantry of a shadow puppet than the system of sign language. The importance remains in the outline instead of the context of its movement. What it is doing does not matter. As in linguistics, when two words that sound the same mean different things, the gestures signify like false friends.
As I am typing this, my hands hover above the keys like a pianist’s. This is different than how my hand moves when taking notes: index and middle finger pressed against my thumb in small upward and downward movements (pen in between), while my wrist tracks across the page from left to right and ink inscribes curves and lines that form words onto the surface below. Both are gestures of writing, though the words are not the movement of the hand—they are the result. I am concerned here with how the hands are poised, not by what they do. How their positions can appear to express something else conceptually unrelated but formally alike. What happens if we surrender to misunderstanding?
I find myself studying certain artworks whose depictions of hands reference different mythological narratives. For example, a hand wrapped by a black asp, the viper that killed Cleopatra; a hand suspended above its reflection, like Narcissus; hybrid figures and chimeric beings that possess human bodies and do not have hands, but instead wings and claws. Each of these hands tell us something; they allude to motifs that belong to much larger volumes. They are hands that communicate without writing words. And yet, the evolution of gestures that comprise writing—carving, scripting, typing—contain a material connection to how each artist gives image to myth. They implicate the hand as both storyteller (hand as subject) and maker (hand as process) in works that mimic acts or sources of writing. In their stillness, we can read them. Here, in three movements.
[1] R. A. Markus, “St. Augustine on Signs.” Phronesis 2, no. 1 (1957): 60–83.
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=4096&h=5730&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=637f0a99597382998861c88f88342a11 4096w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=3072&h=4297&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=15602821ef6a6ae663e231c6c01b204b 3072w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=2560&h=3581&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=a9d02d703b24a9280c5cd1e3906f1764 2560w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=2048&h=2865&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=f9c6a712f23cc82c584308235a94b71b 2048w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=1920&h=2685&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=ee72464058a43ac4d839cf7bbc725bd3 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=1536&h=2148&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=4b1e82e2bd237ecd7c0e48494e853b89 1536w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=1280&h=1790&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=15840a33ab0e7df695dc576c1fd7a351 1280w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=1024&h=1432&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=0d9f16ed89d9bbdd1de2671e758a4213 1024w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=768&h=1074&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=47142582587f9ad0e1531d636675e400 768w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=512&h=716&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=2c4df1a8d5790f3fa6e8c77433b1e82a 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=256&h=358&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=bb723817dd8c16f2aa876676e87b2974 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/cARM-2000-Fosters-Pond.jpg?w=128&h=179&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637931185&s=b43e0942ef59b7435d78972c7526f178 128w)
Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Fosters Pond, 2000
Courtesy of the artist & WILLAS Contemporary
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/guido-reni-cleopatra-ca-1640-italian-school-oil-on-canvas-110-cm-x-94-cm-p00209-guido-reni-1575-1642.jpg?w=768&h=893&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637015062&s=d1378a47b0dfc4c13956e7a58428c5e9 768w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/guido-reni-cleopatra-ca-1640-italian-school-oil-on-canvas-110-cm-x-94-cm-p00209-guido-reni-1575-1642.jpg?w=512&h=595&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637015062&s=1e1ed825a84fbf1021210ab3838150a1 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/guido-reni-cleopatra-ca-1640-italian-school-oil-on-canvas-110-cm-x-94-cm-p00209-guido-reni-1575-1642.jpg?w=256&h=297&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637015062&s=e1b6e6c25b80f2c47a5f1a9fe2c7508d 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/guido-reni-cleopatra-ca-1640-italian-school-oil-on-canvas-110-cm-x-94-cm-p00209-guido-reni-1575-1642.jpg?w=128&h=148&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637015062&s=af4695f7c6839fa04e6c801e07896658 128w)
Guido Reni, Cleopatra, ca 1640, 110x94 cm
Courtesy of Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid
Movement No. 1: Writing on Water
A black and white composition of a hand rises from a mirror-like expanse of placid water, dramatically curved at the wrist like a swan’s neck. Between its fingers: a pen. The tip of the instrument and the hand (presumably the artist’s, a self-portrait) hovers above the surface reflected with perfect clarity. In the distance, a backdrop of blurred pines spans the horizon. If the hand were to lower the tip of the pen onto the sheet of the pond, the reflection would break in a symphony of ripples. Perhaps the ink would suspend for a moment, like an oil spill, before dissolving into the runoff. It is an image of writing that allows no possibility for a text to be produced. The action of the hand—a disembodied and stagnant Narcissus—belongs to its non-dominant, off-screen counterpart. That is, the hand whose finger presses the shutter of the camera. Enacting the gesture of the hunter that fell in love with his reflection, the hand remains caught in the act. In this signal, a portrait of vanity that depends on inertia, everything is left unsaid.
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=2048&h=2048&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=231d1b07d121374f8f850182d4a636e8 2048w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=1920&h=1920&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=7dd92bd51f65fb83a810b9d0ee5c9a2f 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=1536&h=1536&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=1c4e436de9f0454fea6ae7fa1ac0cc12 1536w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=1280&h=1280&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=a5946bf57a3f009eb06e3770e1f4aa67 1280w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=1024&h=1024&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=42c8a16686b0c7cfa932a1a45528a270 1024w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=768&h=768&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=dce8aedab4e205c0ca0a3157b878a7f6 768w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=512&h=512&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=6eb48e043e4292091d5c251f50932bbc 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=256&h=256&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=491cb017478cc6713bf234dd19aa805a 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Skanning-10.jpeg?w=128&h=128&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637012990&s=81cc175927a14144e43921e8f6d26d02 128w)
Vanna Bowles, Abandoned Moments, 2021, Serie of 28 pencil drawings, each drawing 20 x 20 cm.
Courtesy of the artist and Kunstplass Contemporary Art [Oslo]
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/31198669025_6061eff3b9_b.jpg?w=512&h=791&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014399&s=27c648670c10aed0ae2fd0918ec4a9c1 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/31198669025_6061eff3b9_b.jpg?w=256&h=395&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014399&s=f13b7534371aeea51291b86728a8b7bb 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/31198669025_6061eff3b9_b.jpg?w=128&h=197&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637014399&s=73625d1d643c5961f447ab37008ed517 128w)
Chirogram from John Bulwer's Chirologia, 1644
Found via Victor Stoichita
Movement No. 2: Holding Death
An asp—the venomous viper most famously
depicted in lore surrounding the death of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile—wraps
around the fingers of an outstretched palm. It is drawn upon a piece of white
paper, pinned to the wall, like a specimen. In Greco-Roman times, the bite of
the snake was the favored execution tactic for notable criminals. In Egypt, it
was a symbol of royalty. Here, the small lithe body of the killer gently
writhes around the subject’s fingers. Tenderly enveloping the raised right
hand, the image functions as an oath—we can imagine the left (beyond view)
resting upon a bible. In Ancient Greece, the study of hand gestures used in
rhetoric was known as Chironomia—meaning hands both accompanied and inflected
the delivery of written speech, altering language. This hand holds a symbol of
death at the same time it makes the gesture of a promise. While we do not know
the crime, it broadcasts an admission of guilt. Trial and verdict collapse. As
we see the confession, we also bear witness to the sitter’s last living
gesture.
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=3072&h=4607&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=3b589de579b9bee971ade59a17989d72 3072w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=2560&h=3839&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=0d1c9ada4b6ca973f3b55d208c55533a 2560w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=2048&h=3071&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=37bab28c50db4f28609cbc21fd77832d 2048w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=1920&h=2879&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=dd22c6968e4ac9752af3439378af31ee 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=1536&h=2303&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=3a50fb01622abac661b6bdc64390fe01 1536w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=1280&h=1919&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=c74fd8f8ec2e16fbdac63cb718307278 1280w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=1024&h=1535&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=50631d250568c339b93bc6ecad834942 1024w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=768&h=1151&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=17699fba6dacf5b0e391758d1bbb69da 768w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=512&h=767&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=c12722d81a4d9e277fc3404991c12247 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=256&h=383&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=86e61f7ac6af6251ec8164b833c3425d 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_052_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm_2021-11-15-215658_rcov.jpg?w=128&h=191&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013418&s=b2b017a9b719d4349907fe6bfd999135 128w)
Sif Itona Westerberg, Fountain, 2021
Courtesy of the artist and Gether Contemporary
![](https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=4096&h=2957&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=ebb2679256e54f23bb4932299e9b3c23 4096w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=3072&h=2217&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=f22553ae44c121d88e0b41e629281bd7 3072w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=2560&h=1848&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=b8c5d58076375af5a207b019c15011fc 2560w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=2048&h=1478&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=0019ce131fe7f5a84d609a66703d717d 2048w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=1920&h=1386&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=414e41b8af9d86951838a5af936f3346 1920w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=1536&h=1108&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=f1e2aa10401aca79b8465faa4f77e4ed 1536w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=1280&h=924&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=4763e0b189eb1c2a5b174111781c3bba 1280w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=1024&h=739&q=82&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=d8396009ea592d5778b68045ae899c97 1024w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=768&h=554&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=8c3567ff3b109b92a86894bc1246fafc 768w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=512&h=369&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=c02f208fbbede1ae41c6582c80fcd20e 512w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=256&h=184&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=dabd6d0f9607c126cc25a76a2e50d65c 256w, https://optimise2.assets-servd.host/fluffy-tenrec/production/Sif-Itona-Westerberg_Immemorial_ARoS_042_Photo-by-David-Stjernholm.jpg?w=128&h=92&q=60&fm=jpg&fit=crop&fp-x=0.5&fp-y=0.5&dm=1637013939&s=ea4ac6bed57e66db41bc3728b9b105c7 128w)
Sif Itona Westerberg, Fountain, 2021
Courtesy of the artist and Gether Contemporary
Movement No. 3: The Hand of God
Another movement of (early) writing: to carve. Friezes of aerated concrete, engraved in shallow reliefs, depict chimeric figures in mythographic scenes that frame various sculptures of fountains. Streams of water spout from the mouths of hybrid creatures. Instead of hands, they have wings, claws, or hooves—appendages that also carve (into the air, into the earth). Etching into the entablature, the artist’s hand performs the same act as inscribing text. Here, the stone holds images of fictional beings instead of words. Then again, the beasts that once decorated illuminated medieval manuscripts—fantasies of bodies transformed into ornamentation—were used to compose the capital letters at the beginning of a tale. In Christian tradition, text was considered holy (the word of God), while monsters could live in the margins. Centuries later, genes are now spliced, grown, and manufactured in laboratories. As scientific advances progress, the promise of hybridity—playing with the ‘hand of God’—seems not only possible, but imminent. The fountains picture fragments of post-human future as guided by our own hand.
In his book Gestures, Vilém Flusser describes: “Writing does not mean bringing material to a surface but scratching at a surface, and the Greek verb graphein proves it.” [2] As gestures, each of these images scrape upon others. They write, as I type, about other hands—reaching out to touch, to come in close contact with, the myths they reference. These subjective translations, three isolated movements by three separate artists, disclose the quotations (a type of mythology) that arise from falling for false friends.
[2] Vilém Flusser, Gestures. Trans. Nancy Ann Roth. University of Minnesota Press (1991): 19.
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Stephanie Cristello is a contemporary art critic, curator, and author based in Chicago, IL. Her work focuses on artists who critically engage with the image and its role in visual culture. Through the lens of Classics and mythology, her diachronic writing practice concentrates on the intersection of ancient narratives and conceptual practice post-1960. Her research is specifically motivated by contemporary works that interrogate how language, text, and the use of poetic devices influence and shape the cultural and historical structures that surround us. She has worked internationally across a variety of platforms, including exhibitions, panels and symposia, editorial and publishing, and has contributed to numerous exhibition catalogues nationally and internationally.