Book of Windows, Saul Chernick

Artwork Overview

Saul Chernick, Book of Windows
Saul Chernick, Book of Windows
Saul Chernick
Book of Windows
2011
Saul Chernick, artist
born 1975
Book of Windows, 2011
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: screen print; Rives BFK™ paper; relief print
Dimensions:
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 367 x 595 mm
Plate Mark/Block Dimensions (Height x Width): 14 7/16 x 23 7/16 in
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 511 x 722 mm
Sheet/Paper Dimensions (Height x Width): 20 1/8 x 28 7/16 in
Mat Dimensions (Height x Width): 24 x 32 in
Credit line: Museum purchase: Elmer F. Pierson Fund
Accession number: 2011.0073
Not on display
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Images

Label texts

Past Presence

Artist Saul Chernick incorporates imagery drawn from woodcuts created in 15th- and 16th-century Northern Europe, along with aspects of the visual languages of 20th-century computing. In Chernick’s own words, this work seeks to “merge the conventional idea of an icon as a representation of the sacred, with the modern day, technological conception as an image that represents a specific file, directory, window, option, or program.”

Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing

In these works, Saul Chernick considers the impermanence and mutability of meanings that are invested in icons and symbols. He incorporates imagery drawn from woodcuts created in 15th- and 16thcentury Northern Europe, along with aspects of the visual languages of computing. In Chernick’s own words, these images seek to “merge the conventional idea of an icon as a representation of the sacred, with the modern-day, technological conception as an image that represents a specific file, directory, window, option, or program.” Through his juxtaposition of these two forms of visual communication, the artist reveals each as a cryptic system whose significance is determined, in part, by the experiences of its viewers and its participation in a broader web of meanings.
Chernick suggests that the iconography of computing as we know it, with its windows, toolbars, and drop-down menus, will someday fall into obscurity, just as the symbolic implications of Renaissance imagery have become confused with time. However, by juxtaposing these visual means of transmitting information, the artist also foregrounds formal and conceptual continuities that seem to bridge temporal boundaries that separate past from present. Thus, Book of Windows and Pangea demonstrate the compelling allure and weight of symbols, even in the absence of their original contexts.

Exhibition Label:
"Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing," Mar-2012, Stephen Goddard
In these works, Saul Chernick considers the impermanence and mutability of meanings that are invested in icons and symbols. He incorporates imagery drawn from woodcuts created in 15th- and 16th-century Northern Europe, along with aspects of the visual languages of computing. In Chernick’s own
words, these images seek to “merge the conventional idea of 16 an icon as a representation of the sacred, with the modernday, technological conception as an image that represents a specific file, directory, window, option, or program.” Through his juxtaposition of these two forms of visual
communication, the artist reveals each as a cryptic system whose significance is determined, in part, by the experiences of its viewers and its participation in a broader web of meanings.

Chernick suggests that the iconography of computing, as we know it, with its windows, toolbars, and drop-down menus,
will someday fall into obscurity, just as the symbolic implications of Renaissance imagery have become confused with time. However, by juxtaposing these visual means of transmitting information, the artist also foregrounds formal
and conceptual continuities that seem to bridge temporal boundaries that separate past from present. Thus, Book of Windows and Pangea demonstrate the compelling allure and
weight of symbols, even in the absence of their original contexts. CFK © 2012 Conner Family Trust, San Francisco / Artists Rights
Society (ARS), New York

Exhibitions

Cryptograph: An Exhibition for Alan Turing
Stephen Goddard, curator
2012
Past Presence
Sara Stepp, curator
2020

Resources

Audio

Hear a SWMS student's perspective.
Audio Tour – Bulldog Art Tour
Hear a SWMS student's perspective.
Audio Tour – Bulldog Art Tour
This piece is titled Book of Windows and looks like a computer screen infused with Renaissance era imagery. The artist’s juxtaposition of these two different cultural revelations is interesting. The Renaissance was a time marked by great social change and defining works of art. I would argue that the invention of a computer that could fit on a desk and the following innovation of the computer from a bulky tool to a household item was similar to the Renaissance. It changed the way the world worked. Since I’m quarantined at home right now, I’m recording this on a computer. Book of Windows is by Saul Chernick. Chernick was born in 1975 and most of his pieces are strange blends of images. Perhaps Chernick is showing us that someday the world will have another Renaissance, something that redefines how humanity expresses itself again. I recognize some of the symbols of Renaissance art, but I couldn’t explain to you what they mean. The computer screen will likely be a barely recognizable symbol of the past to a generation four hundred years in the future. Humans have changed the way we communicate countless times and we will continue to. While looking at this piece, I encourage you to reflect on what it means to you. Chernick’s unique infusion of two ways humans have communicated results in perceptions of the piece being incredibly individual. What does it communicate to you?