Collage > Palimpsest

collage, altered page
9 x 6 in.
1996/2001

Palimpsest: Veil
altered page, collage
9 x 6 in.
2001
Palimpsest: Double
altered page, collage
9 x 6 in.
2001
Palimpsest: Double Veil
altered page, collage, metal frame
9 x 6 in.
2009
Palimpsest: Double Veil
altered page, collage, metal frame
9 x 6 in.
2009
Palimpsest: Double
altered page, collage
9 x 6 in.
1996
Palimpsest: Double
altered page, collage
9 x 6 in.
1996
Palimpsest: Double
altered page, collage
9 x 6 in.
1996

Veil; The Secret Wars of the CIA, features a metamorphosis from printed text to empty space, from book page to dust. Complete words are illegible, but the remnants of broken letters can be seen and felt by viewing and touching the crater-like surfaces of the pages.

Excising portions of text from the book is accomplished by drilling out each page one word at a time. Afterwards, frayed shadows of their former selves, the overlapping pages of hollowed out letters remain. Since the obliterated text can no longer be read, the book becomes a memory of a memory. What we see in place of the original text is a mysterious calligraphy, pierced and fragmented by the gouged spaces in the center of each letter. Each page has become a palimpsest, a white veil through which the underlying page can be glimpsed, but when the page is turned the veil remains. A visual, rather than a linear, read is necessary to understand the meta-language created by the syntax of disparate letters, and empty spaces.