"The Sculpture Team: Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen

"The content of this particular work makes it one of his finest pieces," says Daphne Deeds, former assistant director and curator at the Sheldon. "It is a reference to the end of the Gutenburg era, the end of note-taking on paper." She adds that the work also suggests its place in art history. The wind-blown folds of the pages recall folds of drapery and the defiant stance of one of the most famous works of classical antiquity, the Nike of Samothrace. "The artists are very aware of their place in history," says Deeds.

But, ultimately Oldenberg says the symbolic meanings will give way to the form of the art itself. In 1967, Oldenburg said of his work: "As time goes on and the things they 'represent' vanish from daily use, their purely formal character will be more evident. Time will undress them."

Taken from Symbolic Meanings.