Dime-store Alchemy: The Art of Joseph Cornell

Another book valid for me as a model in dealing with art and artists is Charles Simic's Dime-Store Alchemy. The poet Simic is able to present the American artist Joseph Cornell in short paragraphs, each one devoted to a fascinating aspect of Cornell’s creations: the little boxes where objects such as maps, marbles, cards are assembled. Simic’s style succeeds in creating whirling connections between some details in Cornell’s works and all sort of reference, poems, movies, dreams, New York city, other artists. A web of scattered similarities is depicted, where the writer is the medium putting akin things in contact.

-- Antonella Sbrilli