In this Book
- The Book of a Hundred Hands
- Book
- 2005
- Published by: University of Iowa Press
summary
The hand is second only to language in defining the human being, and its constant presence makes it a ready reminder of our humanity, with all its privileges and obligations. In this dazzling collection, Cole Swensen explores the hand from any angle approachable by language and art. Her hope: to exhaust the hand as subject matter; her joy: the fact that she couldn’t.
These short poems reveal the hand from a hundred different perspectives. Incorporating sign language, drawing manuals, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, shadow puppets, imagined histories, positions (the “hand as a boatless sail”), and professions (“the hand as window in which the panes infinitesimal”), Cole Swensen’s fine hand is “that which augments” our understanding and appreciation of “this freak wing,” this “wheel that comforts none” yet remains “a fruit the size and shape of the heart.”
These short poems reveal the hand from a hundred different perspectives. Incorporating sign language, drawing manuals, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, shadow puppets, imagined histories, positions (the “hand as a boatless sail”), and professions (“the hand as window in which the panes infinitesimal”), Cole Swensen’s fine hand is “that which augments” our understanding and appreciation of “this freak wing,” this “wheel that comforts none” yet remains “a fruit the size and shape of the heart.”
Table of Contents
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- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xiv
- One: The History of the Hand
- The Hand Thinks
- p. 5
- Two: Positions of the Hand
- The Mechanics of the Hand
- pp. 25-26
- Three: Professions of the Hand
- The Hand as Lamp
- p. 30
- The Hand as Anchor
- p. 31
- The Hand as Origami
- p. 33
- The Hand as Ideogram
- p. 36
- The Hand as Window
- p. 37
- The Hand as Mansion
- p. 38
- The Hand as Sun God
- p. 39
- The Hand Polishes
- pp. 40-41
- Expression
- p. 42
- The Hand as Nest
- p. 44
- The Hand as Mango
- pp. 45-46
- Four: Representations of the Hand
- The Hands’ Testament
- p. 49
- The Hands Testify
- p. 50
- The Hand Painted In
- p. 51
- The Hand Sculpted
- p. 52
- The Hand Sketched
- p. 54
- The Hand in Fresco
- p. 56
- Five: The Anatomy of the Hand
- The Palmar View
- p. 60
- Fingers: Alignment
- p. 65
- Alignment, Continued
- p. 66
- Fingertips
- p. 67
- The Bevel Itself
- p. 69
- The Thumb: Based On
- p. 71
- The Intern's Problem
- p. 72
- The Thumb, In Sum
- p. 73
- The Anatomy of Trees
- p. 78
- The Mechanics of the Hand
- pp. 79-80
- Six: American Sign Language
- The Manual Alphabet
- p. 84
- Thinking and Feeling
- p. 87
- Ghost (Holy)
- p. 91
- Seven: Shadow Puppets
- The First Movies
- p. 101
- Advances in the Form
- pp. 105-106
- Eight: A Manual of Gesture: Public Speaking for the Gentleman (1879)
- Both Hands Descending Lateral Prone
- pp. 113-114
- Nine: Paintings of Possible Hands
- Wilton Diptych, 1395
- p. 117
- Sean Scully, Landline Sand, 1999
- pp. 125-126
Additional Information
ISBN
9781587296475
Related ISBN(s)
9780877459460
DOI
MARC Record
OCLC
181552895
Pages
142
Launched on MUSE
2012-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
2005