Untitled

In 2000, Robert Gober created this large-scale stone lithograph. The imagery is of a dictionary page showing the juxtaposition of such entries as “betoken” (to give evidence of”) “betray” (to lead astray), and “betroth” (to promise to marry or give in marriage), but this is not a photographic reproduction. The drawing of the imagery (text, at an angle, selectively cropped) is noticeable upon careful viewing and thus Gober leads a viewer on a journey about fact, fiction, humanity, society and authority. Are all the definitions accurate? Is there a dictionary with these words, so loaded in meaning in their juxtaposition? What words has the artist left out? The questions mount as one looks closer. Questioning definitions and pondering order are important themes for Gober and for the viewer.

In 2000, Robert Gober created this large-scale stone lithograph. The imagery is of a dictionary page showing the juxtaposition of such entries as “betoken” (to give evidence of”) “betray” (to lead astray), and “betroth” (to promise to marry or give in marriage), but this is not a photographic reproduction. The drawing of the imagery (text, at an angle, selectively cropped) is noticeable upon careful viewing and thus Gober leads a viewer on a journey about fact, fiction, humanity, society and authority. Are all the definitions accurate? Is there a dictionary with these words, so loaded in meaning in their juxtaposition? What words has the artist left out? The questions mount as one looks closer. Questioning definitions and pondering order are important themes for Gober and for the viewer.