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Photography by Edward C. Robison III

When Dickinson Shut Her Eyes No. 859: A Doubt If It Be Us

In this work, Roni Horn translates Emily Dickinson’s poem through the materials favored by Minimalist artists. The sculpture reflects the poem’s structure: each unit’s length is determined by the corresponding line length in the poem. Horn combines the irregular rhythms of Dickinson, a prominent nineteenth-century American poet, with the strict formal approach of Donald Judd. The resulting artwork remixes male artistic modes with a female poetic voice.

ArtistRoni Horn(b. 1955)
Date1993
MediumSolid cast plastic and aluminum
Dimensions62 7/8 x 2 x 2 in.
Mark(s)element a: A DOUBT IF IT BE US element b: ASSISTS THE STAGGERING MIND element c: IN AN EXTREME ANGUISH element d: UNTIL IT FOOTING FIND. element e: AN UNREALITY IS LENT, element f: A MERCIFUL MIRAGE element g: THAT MAKES THE LIVING POSSIBLE element h: WHILE IT SUSPENDS THE LIVES. each element stamped at right end: ED 2/3 RH
Credit LineCrystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2014.14
ClassificationSculpture
Provenance(Hauser & Wirth, Zürich, Switzerland); purchased by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, AR, 2014
On ViewNo
When Dickinson Shut …62.9 × 2 in.Tennis Ball2.7 in. diameter

This artwork's face covers about 17× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.