Visually, this is a simple piece. The main body is a black rectangle. On each of the four sides (not the top, and presumably not the bottom), the phrase “THE INABILITY OF MEN.” is spelled out in holes, in the Courier typeface (the one typically used by typewriters or by computer output that is trying to look like typewriter output) or a similar typeface. Inside the box, there are colored boxes that bob up and down; sometimes we see the colored boxes through the holes, sometimes we see the holes on other sides of the box and through those the surroundings of the work.
The artist offers this description: “Underlying the inability of men and women to communicate is a deeper truth: all people are essentially alone. Men cannot communicate with women, but they cannot communicate with each other, either. The “battle” between men and women is simply the most visible demonstration of how isolated people are from one another.”
This piece raises questions about the nature of communication between people, or the lack thereof. Many authors have opined on gender differences, all the way from Freud’s question of “what do women want” to the pop psychology of books like “Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus”. Authors like Deborah Tannen (”You Just Don’t Understand”) and women’s studies scholars like Nancy J. Chodorow have theorized that the differences in men’s and women’s communication styles are real, and are at least part of the cause of difficulty. I’m not going to attempt to answer the question here, but I believe that Gleman’s work is an effective visual for the discussion.
