Accession Code: wu0155 Title: The Spirit of the Snake Date completed: 1965 Medium: Print Material: Screenprint Height (mm): 965 Width (mm): 654 Depth (mm): n/a Inscription: Signed, dated and numbered 33/65 Location Name: Social Sciences Location Description: Philosophy Location Floor:2

© The Paolozzi Foundation, Licensed by DACS 2021
 
Born in Scotland, Paolozzi was an important member of the Independent Group, which aimed to grant 'popular culture' the same status as 'high art'. He was a founding member of the 'Pop Art' movement in Britain in the late 1950s which made use of media images often from American advertising with its superior colour print technology and its depictions of affluence and conspicuous consumption.

The set of twelve screenprints entitled 'As Is When' refers to the life and writings of the Austrian born philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. It marks a point in his life when Paolozzi had become disillusioned with America and 'the American Dream'. In the series he uses texts from the philosopher's 'Notebooks' and 'Philosophical Investigations' which he combines with collaged images taken from advertisements, comics and even wrapping paper.

The individual works in the series are:

1. Artificial Sun WU 0151

2. Tortured Life WU 0146

3. Experience WU 0149

4. Reality WU 0148

5. Wittgenstein the Soldier WU 0156

6. Wittgenstein in New York WU 0152

7. Parrot WU 0154

8. Futurism at Lenabo WU 0145

9. Assembling Reminders for a Particular Purpose WU 0150

10. The Spirit of the Snake WU 0155

11. He must, so to speak, throw away the ladder WU 0153

12. Wittgenstein at the Cinema Admires Betty Grable WU 0147