Hammer and Mirror
Hammer and Mirror
Engraved text on reflective Mylar sheets
7″ × 5″ × 2″ / 29 pages
Hammer and Mirror is an homage to Bertolt Brecht. Each page of this unique book is engraved with a single word from his famous 1931 epigram: “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.” Brecht’s emphasis on artifice and the mechanics of thought is physically manifested through the book’s mirrored surfaces. These layers demand that the reader confront their own position and surroundings, highlighting the very act of constructing meaning from a text.
By reflecting the reader’s face back into Brecht’s words, the work functions as a material oxymoron. It offers a sardonic commentary on Brechtian representation, simultaneously acting as the “hammer” of construction and the “mirror” of reality.
Pages 8–9
