Two compelling artistic renditions of TLP 5.6 by Tom Phillips: Wittgenstein’s Dilemma, Inverted, 1999; Wittgenstein’s Trap, 1999.
John Pull writes of these cubes:
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?
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July 16, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Art and Language « Culture and Anarchy
[...] The sculpture is made up of steel words, which one can read from a certain angle but give the impression that one should be trapped inside the steel cage of words in order to read them (and it took me a while to make sense of them). The words read, over and over again, “The limits of my language are the limits of my world”, famous words of Wittgenstein. Since these words are repeated, they provide their own limits, and to emphasise this they form a cube, with language literally providing the boundaries. Yet, since one can read through them and see the space beyond, the limits are not really limits, merely a temporary barrier. It’s both beautiful and clever, and I loved it. There’s some intelligent commentary about it here. [...]