Rebecca Horn's "Flying Books Under Black Rain" - The Intersection of Art and Literature

In the basement of the newly renovated Harvard Art Museum, three books fly overhead with slowly waving wings, both rigid and in motion beneath a black rainfall painting across the wall. If you walked by quickly enough, you might not even notice the books slowly flying in place above your head. For some reason, though, every time I walk by I can't help but stop to watch them move. The piece is entitled "Flying Books Under Black Rain," pictured below, and is the work of artist Rebecca Horn, also pictured below.

At first glance, it is little more than wall art or room decor, but when analyzed through a sociocultural lens, the piece has a lot more to offer than some splatters of black paint and a few books. Like its literal components themselves, the piece begs the relationship of art and literature - how do the two interact and overlap? Can they in some instances be one and the same? 

flying books black rain 1.jpg

Rebecca Horn's "Flying Books Under Black Rain" from below.

These intentions become even more clear when we consider in detail the the creation of the work itself. The "black rain" in the work is actually black ink, not paint, further blurring the line between literature and art by using a traditional book medium for the creation of a paiting. Additionally, Rebecca Horn discusses the purpose of the three books in her piece, espeically as an installation at Harvard, as focusing on "education" and "young people." She describes them as the end point of the piece, saying that "In the end, we all read the same three books." (Horn). 

A video of Horn's explanation during the original creation of the piece is included below and provides some insight into the work itself.

Rebecca Horn - Flying Books Under Black Rain Painting (Video from Harvard Art Museums)

Of course, Horn is not the first artist or author to consider these intersections and what they mean for art! Famous author Jorge Luis Borges commented on the nature of art and literature and said the following to point out the time and success distinctions between the two:

"It’s possible that a book won’t attract any attention when it’s published; it may be discovered afterward. On the other hand, in the case of a film (and this makes everything more dramatic; the same thing happens, let’s say, with the dancer’s or performer’s art), the failure or success has to be immediate… I think the circumstance of a hall filled with people in itself creates a special atmosphere." - Borges (Seven Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges)

This points out the important distinction of time and perception between art and literature - when are they created? For whom? When are they appreciated? In the case of "Flying Books Under Black Rain," the creation of the work itself was an interactive and performative process, as noted in the gallery video above. Unlike traditional literature, this form of artwork has value and meaning in the witnessing of its creation, while a traditional literary text derives its value from the end product - the process of writing it has little meaning to its audience. However - this distinction has a caveat when we considering the meaning of "reading." This is somewhat obvious when taken literally, to read the words across a page, but what does it mean to read visual art or performances? This question too lies within the socioculture lens through which we view "Flying Books Under Black Rain." If we are readers of both art and literature, does that not also make authors and creators both writers and artists?

To this end, Yale University's Sean Griffin writes in his curriculum:

The Writer as Artist: The number of writers who were also visual artists is astounding when looked at closely. Perhaps it is because of their great fame with the written word that we tend to overlook these authors' equally talented artistic side. We do not think of William Faulkner, D.H. Lawrence or Oscar Wilde as sweeping a paintbrush against canvas rather than taking a pen to paper. When we think of the poems of William Blake or the incredibly successful life Winston Churchill lived as a statesman and author, rarely do most of us think of their artistic pursuits as among their strong points. But there is little doubt in my mind that all of these authors and dozens of others like them would at least give a nod to the importance that art played in their lives. So is there a connection between the writer and the artist that serves as a natural bridge? Is there a reason that the successful author is also an accomplished artist? Kathleen G. Hjerter ponders the connection in the introduction to her collection of works from many writer/artists, Doubly Gifted: The Author as Visual Artist:

"Artworks created in the minds that excel in literature sometimes hold more of the excess of their creators' energies than do their words. Freed from the stringent restraints of traditional art training and demands of the current artistic schools, authors who eschew the limits of the language of their trade for brief moment have discovered a weightlessness when yielding a paintbrush that they found intoxicating." (Hjerter)

"So perhaps there is something that authors were able to relate in painting or drawing that they could not reach through their writings. Perhaps all of us are better able to communicate through both language and art than we are with one rather than the other."

It is this particular quote (in bold) that strikes me as being the clearest answer to the question - can art and literature be one and the same? It may be that, as Horn literally portrays in "Flying Books Under Black Rain," art and literature most often combine and share in meaning. At their core, both are expressions of the human condition and as such can easily be combined and co-created. As we read a text for the meaning of its words, and more importantly, its story, so too can we read visual artwork as a portrayal of a story come to life instead of shared through text.

As a society, we glean value from both art and literature as curated samples of the lives we all lead in the world - when considering the two as readable "texts" we find that at their cores their intentions may be no different from each other. We seek meaning in the significance rather than the medium in many contexts, and by blurring the lines between standard literature and standard art, artist Rebecca Horn demonstrates their relationship with each other as flexible and relatable "texts." 

 

SOURCES

 

http://www.harvardartmuseums.org/collections/object/350526

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so1rfLd_OiM

https://vimeo.com/134236963

http://www.rebecca-horn.de/pages/biography.html

https://www.brainpickings.org/2015/08/24/borges-success/

 Sorrentino, Fernando. Seven Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges. Paul Dry Books, 1982.

Kathleen G. Hjerter. Doubly Gifted: The Author as Visual Artist, 9.

Sean Griffin. Yale. http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/2002/4/02.04.06.x.html#i

Art of Reading Barakat Final.pdf

The creative component to my final project - a poem entitled "Painting With Words."