"Better a witty fool than a foolish wit." - William Shakespeare
In Shakespeare’s plays, the rich and powerful are sometimes clueless, and the penniless “fools” are often the smartest guys in the room. Sound familiar?
In our illustration we used a king and jester to represent the wise and foolish respectively. We then used text as a device to represent the quality of their thinking.
In contrast to his outward appearance, the fools’ thoughts are rich and dense, forming an elaborate jeweled crown. Likewise, the king’s are sparse and simplistic, forming a jester’s hat.
The idea of the "witty fool" reminds us of Socrates' famous quotation "I know that I know nothing." Wisdom begins with knowing you're a fool, and we see this quotation as a challenge to engage the world with real curiosity, humility, and openness. As far as the arrogance and self confidence of the "foolish wit" - well let's just do our best to avoid that stuff, shall we?
This is part of our "Most Absurd" Shakespeare collection.
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Any 3 prints for $48 (regularly $72)
Code: 3PRINTS
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• 11x14 inch art print with white border
• Premium, fine art paper made in New York
• Elegant eggshell finish
• Ships in a a rigid, flat mailer. No need to unroll!
• Fits into standard 11x14 frames (or a 16x20 frame matted to 11x14)
Obvious State is a creative studio and publisher founded by Nichole and Evan Robertson in 2011.
We make bold, illustrated editions and fine art drawn from the classics.
Our books and prints are available in our shop and in bookstores and boutiques nationwide.
Our work has been featured at The Folger Shakespeare Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The American Writers Museum, The Emily Dickinson Museum, The Library of Congress, The Getty Museum, The Museum of Contemporary Art and more.
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Provocative visuals paired with punctuated language, full of surprising visual metaphors, subtext, and insider nudges that reveal themselves slowly.
Our pocket editions are portable art objects made to collect, share, and inspire moments of quiet reflection in an overstimulated digital world.
We’re drawn to language that has stood the test of time, insights that strike a chord, poetry that stretches the imagination, and philosophy that prompts critical thinking.
