Here is a Hand is a book about the persistence of the disembodied hand in art. The “hand of the artist” metaphor for authorship and gesture suggests that the hand has autonomy and an ability to express itself. The disembodied hand is a culturally persistent metaphor for the subconscious, supporting the notion of a separation between the body’s hand and the mind. It gives the hand an aura of a magical self-embodied and conscious autonomy recurring in popular culture and as a useful heuristic for consciousness that draws us to it. When we wonder what guides our hands and don’t feel as though we are consciously guiding them ourselves (e.g. automatic drawing, knitting, sculpting, playing music etc.), we are reminded of the mental operations we’re unaware of and don’t control and we imagine the hand having a mind of its own. This book features art about the disembodied hand phenomenon with artwork by Charles Addams, Robert Arneson, John Baldessari, Nina Beier and Simon Dybbroe Møller, Louise Bourgeois, Maurizio Ca elan, Peter Coffin,Leonardo da Vinci, Robert Doisneau, Urs Fischer, Gisèle Freund, Katharina Fritsch, Mario Irarrazabal, Jamie Isenstein, Joseph Kosuth, Mark Leckey, Glenn Ligon, Richard Long, Benny Merris, Bruce Nauman, Guiseppe Penone, Niki de Saint Phalle, Robert Pranker, Robert Rauschenberg, Auguste Rodin, Michael Sailstorfer, David Shrigley, Haim Steinbach, Dan Stockholm. The book includes essays by artist Peter Coffin and Sir Nicholas Penny former Director of the National Gallery, London and former Senior Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.
Here is a Hand is a book about the persistence of the disembodied hand in art. The “hand of the artist” metaphor for authorship and gesture suggests that the hand has autonomy and an ability to express itself. The disembodied hand is a culturally persistent metaphor for the subconscious, supporting the notion of a separation between the body’s hand and the mind. It gives the hand an aura of a magical self-embodied and conscious autonomy recurring in popular culture and as a useful heuristic for consciousness that draws us to it. When we wonder what guides our hands and don’t feel as though we are consciously guiding them ourselves (e.g. automatic drawing, knitting, sculpting, playing music etc.), we are reminded of the mental operations we’re unaware of and don’t control and we imagine the hand having a mind of its own. This book features art about the disembodied hand phenomenon with artwork by Charles Addams, Robert Arneson, John Baldessari, Nina Beier and Simon Dybbroe Møller, Louise Bourgeois, Maurizio Ca elan, Peter Coffin,Leonardo da Vinci, Robert Doisneau, Urs Fischer, Gisèle Freund, Katharina Fritsch, Mario Irarrazabal, Jamie Isenstein, Joseph Kosuth, Mark Leckey, Glenn Ligon, Richard Long, Benny Merris, Bruce Nauman, Guiseppe Penone, Niki de Saint Phalle, Robert Pranker, Robert Rauschenberg, Auguste Rodin, Michael Sailstorfer, David Shrigley, Haim Steinbach, Dan Stockholm. The book includes essays by artist Peter Coffin and Sir Nicholas Penny former Director of the National Gallery, London and former Senior Curator of Sculpture and Decorative Arts at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.