Abracadabra Universe, 2007
Medium: vinyl text on board, wood, gold leaf, chemistry flask, Bunsen burner, altered book
Dimensions: 20 ¾ x 17 ¾ x 1  inch framed print
14 ¼ x 10 x 7 1/4/inches (objects).
Weisman Art Museum

Abracadabra Universe represents Bart’s belief in the alchemical power of words. A medieval predecessor to chemistry, alchemy involves distilling metals to their material essence and then subjecting those essences to transformational processes.

A Bunsen burner (like those in scientific laboratories) rests on The Universe, a collection of essays that explore the cosmos through science, fiction, and art. The metal burner holds a glass laboratory flask filled with gold leaf. A rubber tube connects the apparatus above to the interior pages of the book below, leaving us to imagine that the interior world of the book has powered a transformation of base metal to gold.

Hanging next to these objects is a framed print featuring the word ABRACADABRA in red letters. Following ancient tradition, the word repeats, with one letter diminished per line. The inverted triangle represents belief in the word’s power to diminish harm with each incantation, with the bottom of the triangle being the point where the harmful forces disappear. According to ancient and medieval physicians who prescribed Abracadabra amulets (physical objects worn on the body), the word offered personal protection and medicinal cure in its written form.

Publication:

  • Abracadabra and Other Forms of Protection, Laura Wertheim Joseph editor and curator, Weisman Art Museum

Exhibition: