The book is a visual response to the drive to fit more and more people into an ever diminishing space. The UK is under pressure to find more housing and every patch of land, including gardens, are being built upon. New housing is tightly packed with little concern for the environment or the needs of the new residents, leading to a breaking down of community spirit. New housing does not seem to be designed with people in mind and ironically this can isolate individuals - even when they are so close
to everyone else.
Do you know your neighbours?
Increasingly in cities we do not, choosing to keep ourselves to ourselves - fearful of others.
Whilst browsing Roget's Thesaurus, I noticed the thematic listing of words was taking on a poetic significance for me. I used the word lists in the order they appeared in the Thesaurus to convey a sense of melancholy amongst the crowds. The book is printed on accounting paper to show financial pressures, the drawings are a mixture of my photographs of buildings and drawings of imaginary future towers unintentionally imprisoning their tenants. The text is rubber stamped. Loss of identity and community are the main issues in this book.
To read the whole book scroll here:
This book was created specifically for the exhibition, Shelter - Unique Visions of a Universal Subject Through Artist's Books
"A traveling exhibition it that calls attention to a universal issue, homelessness..."I've always been interested in the subject of housing and shelter and the problem of homelessness, which is so rife in this country," said Veronica Morgan of Gloucester, the organizer of "Shelter," subtitled "Unique Visions of a Universal Subject through Artist's Books." Morgan...cited statistics from the National Association to End Homelessness, which states that 600,000 families with 1.32 million children are homeless in the United States. Morgan said she wanted to bring the issue of shelter into the public spotlight through the artistic medium of book arts. The exhibit includes 66 works by 50 international artists...All address the themes of home, the psychology of personal space, homelessness, the loss of historic fabric and personal memoir, according to organizers. Thirty percent of proceeds from the sale of works will go to River House Inc., a Beverly homeless shelter."
....................................................................Excerpt taken from, The Salem News - October 02, 2008
April 10 - 22, 2008 -
Wedeman Gallery, Yamawaki Art and Cultural Center, Lasell College, Newton, MA, USA
May 9 - June 19, 2008 - Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
July 9 - August 15, 2008 - Fleet Library, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA
Oct 6 – 31, 2008 - Montserrat College of Art’s 301 Gallery, 301 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, USA
April 8 - May 3, 2009 - Wells College, Aurora, NY, USA
January - February 2009 - Holy Cross College Art Gallery, Worcester, MA, USA
Babylon Lexicon
New Orleans, 14-30 Nov. 2008
Damp in Ditchwater and Headroom will be on show at the New Orleans Bookfair - Babylon Lexicon.
Future Fantasteek! Issue No.5 will also be exhibited, at the same time, during the New Orleans
Zine Fair.
Place, Identity and Memory – books made by artists
Opens 23 May to 28 June 2009, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, Scotland.
Then the exhibition tours libraries and other venues across Dumfries and Galloway, ending at Stranraer Museum, 55 George Street, Stranraer, DG9 7JP, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland between the 26th September – 31st October 2009, to coincide with the annual Literary Festival at nearby Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town. This is a travelling exhibition by IRIS. The aim of IRIS is to develop Dumfries and Galloway as a recognised centre for book arts in Scotland and internationally.
Headroom and Damp in Ditchwater both feature in the exhibition and catalogue.
