Public Artwork
said the source
Location:
Hamilton Public Library, 55 York Boulevard, Hamilton, ON, L8N 4E4, Canada
See map: Google Maps
Artwork creator(s):
Lexier, Micah
Text author(s):
Lexier, Micah
Installation year:
1989 Description:
The work consists of a newspaper quote that has been blown-up, laser-cut out of stainless steel and attached to the wall with posts. Around this sentence are a series of typesetter’s kerning commands which have been made out of red neon.
Text of the artwork:
“I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the whole story.”
Use single quotes and close up --- tighten all w.s. --- Kern as shown (1/200ths) --- STET --- as open quotes --- (but less than top line) --- tighten w.s.,
Text theme:
From a newspaper article in which the author is identified only as "the source"
History:
Public commission, Hamilton Public Library, Hamilton, Ontario 1990 Note(s):
Commissioned to celebrate the centennial of the Hamilton Public Library. The work consists of a newspaper quote.
Said the source was commissioned to celebrate the Centennial of the Hamilton Public Library.The intention of the piece was to celebrate the Library's history by honoring the act of book production and, specifically, the typesetter's skill of kerning. Kerning is a part of the type proofing process in which each letter is adjusted in relation to the other letters next to it so that the space around each letter appears to be equal. In some cases, space is added and in other cases, space is subtracted. This is a component of the art of typesetting and is one of the hidden processes that is responsible for the ease and pleasure of reading.
Micah Lexier revisited his artwork in 2006, replacing the original neon with painted aluminum and changing the wall colour to blue. The stainless steel elements are from the existing 1989 version.
Artist's biography:
Micah Lexier Document(s):
Syndicate
