Margin for Error: Glass Crib and Cradle By Beth Lipman

margin for error glass crib and cradle photo by gail worley
All Photos By Gail

In Beth Lipman’s Margin For Error (2014) an infant Crib and an adult Cradle are oriented to evoke the universal journey from birth to death. The crib tilts downward, sinking slowly into the floor, propelling its inhabitant toward childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age, at which point the cradle awaits occupation.

margin for error glass crib and cradle photo by gail worleymargin for error glass crib photo by gail worley
margin for error glass cradle photo by gail worley

Modeled after Shaker forms for rocking the ill or those near death, the cradle represents the inevitable mortality we all face. The softness of the ethereal cast glass mirrors the sensitivity and care inherent in the act of rocking the dying; something which is usually reserved for comforting infants.

Photographed in the Museum of Arts and Design in Manhattan.

margin for error glass crib and cradle 2 photo by gail worley

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