Arts Library Special Collections

Out of the Sky: Remembering 9/11 on display Sept. 9-12

Out of the Sky by Werner Pfeiffer
September 9, 2016
Pfeiffer published "Out of the Sky: Remembering 9/11" in commemoration of the fifth anniversary and “in memory of the victims of 9-11.”  As presented, the work is in its completed state.  However, the intention of the artist is for the reader to “read” the piece during assembly.  He writes in the introduction: “Like most of my books OUT OF THE SKY is an interactive piece, which requires a ‘hands-on’ attitude to read.  It is a three dimensional book consisting of a group of large woodcuts in the shape of two towers, each over five feet tall.  Instead of following a horizontal direction, here the movement is vertical.”  Each of the seven segments includes four “pages” that become the sides of one tower when stacked.  Pfeiffer printed the names of victims vertically to imitate the texture of the exterior of the World Trade Center towers.  The abstracted imagery on the lower portions of the tower sculptures evokes the chaos of the attacks and their aftermath. To learn about other artists who have responded to 9-11 in book form consult our guide: http://guides.library.yale.edu/bookarts/9-11
 
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