Writer's Block

To create "Writer's Block", Sheryl Oring collected hundreds of typewriters from the 1920s and 30s and then "caged" them in sculptural boxes made of rusty construction steel. By imprisoning the typewriters, Oring takes away the writer's tool. The result is a symbolic statement about censorship that leads viewers to examine their ideas about free expression. "Writer's Block" premiered on Berlin's Bebelplatz, site of that city's Nazi book-burning, on May 10, 1999. This was the 66th anniversary of the 1933 event that destroyed the works of authors ranging from Nelly Sachs and Else Lasker-Schaler to Bertolt Brecht and Arnold Zweig.

The sculptures were later shown at the Jewish Museum Berlin; Lions' courtyard of the Buda Castle; the Boston Public Library and Bryant Park at the New York Public Library.More recently, the sculptures have been shown at the University of Virginia, Washington and Lee University (Lexington, VA), and Ringling College of Art and Design (Sarasota, FL).

The Berlin exhibitions included a live dance-theater piece created by choreographer Sommer Ulrickson to original music by Ari Benjamin Meyers. Ulrickson and Meyers based their work on the 1933 Berlin book-burning itself, which lasted for hours and was attended by an estimated 40,000 people.

New York Times report on project.

You might think that Sheryl Oring’s work is about old-fashioned manual typewriters. But her compelling style of public art is about memory, and stories. Sheryl Oring’s powerful body of work gives voice to writers who were silenced, and helps people share stories and make their voices heard. In this vibrant conversation, she explains how she developed Writer’s Block to honor the writers, dancers and musicians whose work was banned in Nazi Germany. From the first manual typewriter she bought in Berlin, to the construction crew charmed by her bold request for rebar, to the night she debuted the work where Nazis burned books in the rain in 1933 - and hundreds of people under umbrellas watched dancers and musicians performing in the rain on her monumental sculpture installation, of typewriters trapped in cages. Dressed like a secretary in the 1950s, Sheryl has created vibrant public art projects that invite people to dictate a postcard to politicians. She asked New Yorkers what they’d like people to remember about 9/11, and gave recent immigrants the opportunity to write a letter to their ancestors. She’s currently at work on Greetings From Tampa Bay, gathering stories that will become a piece of visual art at the Tampa Airport. Sheryl Oring talks about public art that engages a community and leaves powerful, lifelong memories, and the life-changing results this kind of art can give. Find out more about Sheryl Oring’s work at http://www.sheryloring.org. Writer’s Block is on display at Creative Pinellas through May 30 - https://creativepinellas.org/writersblock/. Get updates about Greetings From Tampa Bay at http://www.sheryloring.org/greetings-from-tampa-bay

This video documents artist Sheryl Oring's sculptural installation "Writer's Block," a tribute to the writers whose books were burned in Nazi Germany and a reminder about censorship that exists today. Exhibitions were held on Bebelplatz, site of the Berlin book burning; the Jewish Museum Berlin; Lions' Courtyard at the Buda Castle in Budapest; the Boston Public LIbrary and Bryant Park at the New York Public Library.