Guilt
The Ledge
Self-directed moral pain. Knowing the line was crossed. Guilt is specific and attaches to an act, which means it can in principle be discharged. Shame cannot.
The word
Old English gylt, a word for offense and for debt, with no known relatives in any other language; its origin is obscure. The oldest English translations of the Lord's Prayer used it where Latin had debitum: forgive us our guilts, our debts. The feeling still runs on that ledger.
The feeling
A weight with a timestamp. It attaches to one act, replays it with revisions, and keeps proposing repayment: apologize, confess, undo, offset. The body carries it low, stomach and shoulders, and sleep is where it does its loudest work. Painful as it is, it is oddly constructive; guilt believes the debt can be paid, and is usually right.
Against its neighbours
Shame indicts the self and wants to hide; guilt indicts the act and wants to repair. Regret can mourn any wrong turn, including harmless ones; guilt is reserved for the turns that cost someone else.
In the work
A piece built around a decision already made. The moment shown is after, and the frame includes what it cost.
1 work composed with Guilt
How big, actually.
Drawn to scale against a person of average height. Every size is a 4:5 rectangle, the same proportion as the work itself, so nothing is cropped to fit.
Sizes are the printed image. Framed works add the moulding around that. Standard US shipping is free at every size.
Paper, or canvas.
Same image, same inks. What changes is the surface it is printed on. Tap either one.
-
PRINT
Hahnemühle Photo Rag
The paper itself. A heavy 100% cotton matte sheet with a smooth surface, printed edge to edge with no border. Ships flat, or rolled in a tube at large sizes.
- Every size, up to 40 × 50
- You pick the frame
- Just paper and ink
- Needs framing to hang
-
CANVAS
Satin poly-cotton, gallery wrap
Printed on canvas, then stretched by hand over solid wood. The image continues around the sides, so there is no border and no glass.
- Hang it the day it lands
- No glass, no glazing
- Real depth off the wall
- Up to 36 × 45
Series 001 numbers are shared across every size and material, and the certificate records exactly which object you own. Open editions carry no number and no certificate.
Framed, or not.
One frame, satin black, solid wood. We pick the moulding that suits the size and the material, so it arrives ready to hang. Tap either one.
-
NONE
The work, as it is
A paper print ships flat or rolled and you frame it your way. A canvas needs nothing: it is stretched, wired and ready for the wall the day it lands.
- The lightest to ship
- Your framer, your call
- Canvas hangs as it is
- Every size
-
BLACK
Solid wood, chosen for the size
Sealed, hung with hardware fitted, nothing left to arrange. Paper sits behind acrylic; canvas floats inside the moulding with no glass at all.
- STANDARD BLACK ⅞ in face · ¾ in deep · behind acrylic Paper, 8 × 12 and 12 × 18
- ALTO BLACK THIN 1⅜ in face · ⁹⁄₁₆ in deep · behind acrylic Paper, 16 × 24 and up
- BLACK 2 FLOAT ⅜ in face · 2 in deep · ¼ in reveal · no glass Canvas, every framed size
Framed work ships boxed with the hardware fitted. The largest sizes are sold unframed, because a frame that size can only travel by freight.
The list hears first.
Composed with
The rest of the Self-conscious family
Where Guilt sits Gl · SELF-CONSCIOUS FAMILY
OPEN THE TABLESELF-CONSCIOUS FAMILY75 NAMED · 5 UNDISCOVEREDTAP ANY CELL TO OPEN ITS PAGE
