HEARTBREAKING

A friend of mine recently acquired a terrific print from a fantastic gallery show of Toronto artist Lois Andison. The print directly responds to another piece in the same show called Heartbreaking. In this other artwork a machine displays letters of the word "heartbreaking" in every possible readable combination. It sort of reminded me of Wheel Of Fortune in the way the letters were revealed. As you read the new words, a new story is being told and the breakdown of the word also plays on the word itself. Adjacent to this mechanical piece were these beautiful letterpress prints on stonehenge paper depicting the different letter combinations that the machine produced. The image here is of the black ink version. My friend has the red version which is even more stunning.