Like Spun Copper

This card of Ruud Janssen's is one in a series of visual poetic word paintings he has created. All the words, so far as I remember are English or English-sounding, but all are not "real" (or are not intended to be real). This one is my favorite of all these word paintings (though I like them all), so I was thrilled when I'd received it (having seen it posted earlier at Ruud's blog).

The yellow and copper paint on this painting make the piece dazzle. (I love the feel of paint on Ruud's cards, by the way, so I'm a little sad that a tiny bit of red has chipped off the S). The scene we see is the sun almost obscuring the sky, but Ruud has labeled the sun for us, in case we didn't recognize it. Along with this, we see the word "pun," though it's difficult to suggest a meaning for this word: maybe that the words we use are somehow puns for the objects and concepts they pretend to be. But what I like most is that the S and P can also work together to create "spun," suggesting the spinning of gold (in this case, copper) out of the sun.


Ruud Janssen, 05-105 (17 April 2005)
un violon d'ingre