Reversible Destiny: Arakawa/Gins

Over the last three decades, the artists Arakawa (b 1936) and Madeline Gins (b 1941) have created a body of work which includes "The Mechanism of Meaning", a cycle of 83 mixed-media paintings begun in 1963 and completed, for the most part, by 1973. The piece covers a variety of issues, including the nature of perception, how human beings function as persons, and the essential oneness of body and mind. Developed with the co-operation of the two artists and published on the occasion of an exhibition held at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, this illustrated volume includes essays by writers from many disciplines, "The Mechanism of Meaning" in its entirety, proposals for architectural constructions, designs for "reversible-destiny" houses and cities, and concepts underlying reversible-destiny architecture.