About this artwork
Although he is known primarily as an artist, Brossa’s object poems are only one branch of his wide conception of poetry. He believed that the idea rather than the medium was of central importance. Brossa began making object-poems in 1943, and they are typically perverse, ironic and humorous, either made by combining two unusual objects, or transforming an everyday item so that its function is removed. Here, a pair of scissors literally became a ‘dead tool,’ unable to be put to their intended use. Brossa’s love of magic and conjuring tricks can be connected to his playful object-poems. He explained that "Poetry and magic are the same thing. Art is a metamorphosis, basically, and magic too."
Updated before 2020
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artist:
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title:Eina Morta [Dead Tool]
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date created:1988
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materials:Steel mounted on wood
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measurements:13.50 x 6.50 x 0.50 cm (scissors size) 21.80 x 21.80 x 2.40 (installed size)
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object type:
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credit line:Presented anonymously 2004
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accession number:GMA 4714
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gallery:
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subject:
Joan Brossa
Joan Brossa
A prolific Catalan poet, Joan Brossa was born in Barcelona. He began to write poetry while fighting in the Spanish Civil War in 1938, and later became interested in the power of the unconscious. This led to his association with the Surrealist movement. A key figure in the Catalan avant-garde,...