The wall-sized mural/drawing depicts the word “plunder” in giant, curving strokes of Gregg shorthand, the stenographers’ tool that translates sounds into curving and bisecting lines. It is an abstract image for the many people who cannot read shorthand, yet is also a precise rendering of the word, “Plunder.” Lewis's work of art, called "Plunder" continues his ongoing investigations of the relationships between drawing, abstraction, and language. In a number of his previous artworks, he would feature sayings (in English lettering) from the book, "Life's Little Instruction Book."
If you take a close-up look at the wall drawing, you'll see his use of screws and graphite-dipped rubber bands to generate the large line drawing.
There are 19,000 rubber bands, each dipped in graphite, the same mark-making material found in pencils, and each fastened by screws drilled into the wall. Lewis created “Plunder” over five days in October with the help of nine Brandeis undergraduate students.
It's on view at the Rose Art Museum through June 10, 2018. for more information, please visit: www.brandeis.edu/rose
The Art Connection
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