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Anne Vibeke Mou

Diamond Window

2016

A window for Shandy Hall, the Yorkshire home of 18th century novelist Laurence Sterne, where he wrote The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

Detail of the Window, showing the meticulous glass engraving that translates the Suminagashi marbling with thousands of tiny impressions. Installation view of the engraved glass at The Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall.

Among several graphic elements in the novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Sterne inserted a marbled page into the body of the text to express the vital element of chance in his work. Anne Vibeke used the ancient Japanese art of Suminagashi or ‘ink floating’ to guide her engravings on the dining room window, at the heart of Shandy Hall.
        The landscape, the movement of the sun, the time of year, the time of day and the position of the viewer invite a continually shifting perspective as the patterns embedded in the window emerge and recede from one moment to the next.


Installation view of the engraved glass at The Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall. Detail of the Window, showing the meticulous glass engraving that translates the Suminagashi marbling with thousands of tiny impressions. Detail of the Window, showing the meticulous glass engraving that translates the Suminagashi marbling with thousands of tiny impressions. Suminagashi marbling created by blowing or fanning ink on the surface of water and then fixed onto delicate Japanese paper. Suminagashi marbling created by blowing or fanning ink on the surface of water and then fixed onto delicate Japanese paper. Suminagashi marbling created by blowing or fanning ink on the surface of water and then fixed onto delicate Japanese paper. Suminagashi marbling created by blowing or fanning ink on the surface of water and then fixed onto delicate Japanese paper. Suminagashi marbling created by blowing or fanning ink on the surface of water and then fixed onto delicate Japanese paper.



Commissioned by The Laurence Sterne Trust with support from Arts&Heritage. With thanks to Barley Studio. The publication A Window for Shandy Hall was produced in an edition of 300, with an essay by Patrick Wildgust, Curator, The Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall.