Tauba Auerbach

American (San Francisco, California, 1981)

Alphabetized Bible

2006
book | offset lithograph
Not currently on view in the museum
Alphabetized Bible

The Alphabetized Bible investigates the idea that any piece of writing, no matter its intellectual weight, is nothing more than a collection of letters.

Auerbach's book reorders and presents all the characters in the King James Bible in alphabetical groupings, showing capital and lowercase instances in the order in which they appear in the original text. Some letters and sequences of letters appear more frequently than others, in some cases hundreds of times more than their counterparts.

As the artist describes it, "The intention of my work is to formally and conceptually break language down into its tiniest essential units, and apply the unique properties of the system to the system itself, subjecting it to its own idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies in remarkable patterns."


8 in. x 6 in. x 1 1/2 in. (20.32 cm x 15.24 cm x 3.81 cm)
Acquired 2007
Collection SFMOMA
Accessions Committee Fund purchase
© Tauba Auerbach
2007.8
Keywords

artist books, design, text, alphabet, The Holy Bible, Christianity, gray


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