- Artist
- Rebecca Horn born 1944
- Original title
- Bleistiftmaske
- Medium
- Fabric, pencils and metal
- Dimensions
- Object within display case: 650 × 520 × 400mm
Black box: 135 × 360 × 225mm
Framed photograph: 254 × 313 × 34mm - Collection
- Tate
- Acquisition
- Purchased with assistance from Tate Members 2002
- Reference
- T07847
Display caption
Strapped around the face, this mask transforms the wearer’s head into an instrument for drawing. Horn has described wearing it: ‘All pencils are about two inches long and produce the profile of my face in three dimensions...I move my body rhythmically from left to right in front of a white wall. The pencils make marks on the wall the image of which corresponds to the rhythm of my movements.’ The spike-like pencils make this one of Horn’s more threatening works. However, it is linked to the feather masks, as feather quills were also once used for writing.
Gallery label, September 2004
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