Kylix Trilogy II
altered book
9 1/2 x 18 x 1 in.
2014
My trilogy directly references the traditional drinking goblet called a Kylix from early Greece described below from Wikipedia,
“The almost flat interior circle of the base of the cup, called the tondo, was generally the primary surface for painted decoration in the black-figure or red-figure pottery styles of the 6th and 5th century BC, and the outside was also often painted. As the representations would be covered with wine, the scenes would only be revealed in stages as the wine was drained. They were often designed with this in mind, with scenes created so that they would surprise or titillate the drinker as they were revealed.”
Traditionally, drinking wine from a ‘kylix’ reveals various erotic figures after the choice of wine is consumed. Metaphorically, using a book instead of ceramic ware, text is swallowed and information and knowledge within the book is ingested. By transforming a codex into a container or kylix for someone to acquire as artwork is a form of consumption and hopefully is as sweet as any libation. Sometimes information and knowledge is held as truth and at other times it may be elusive and pass through our minds like a sieve.
The original book titles are, Hot House Flowers and the Nine Books of Desire by Margot Berwin; Where’s My Fifteen Minutes by Howard Bragman; and The Ends of Greatness by Gene Smith.