Earthbound: Gravity/Figure/Ground
Special Issue: Volume 33, Number 1 (Spring–Summer 2026)

The significance of the body’s contact with and relationship to the ground, evocations of the heft of bodies and their relationship to gravity, and the cultural meanings of uprightness or falling have been central to a wide range of objects from different cultures, geographical regions, and time periods. Yet, these topics remain substantially understudied in the existing scholarly literature, particularly from a cross-cultural perspective. It is these works, produced in widely divergent times, places, and cultures, that are the focus of the twenty-one essays written by distinguished scholars featured in this special issue. Bringing these contributors’ research together will allow for a richer understanding of these objects’ commonalities and differences of meaning for their makers, users, and viewers. It will also enhance our knowledge of how reflections on the body’s weight, earthbound status, and relationship to gravity have profoundly shaped the fine art, design, decorative arts, and material culture of different times, places, and people.