Step 1: Pile of Pages
I chopped the spine off an old copy of Anne of Ingleside (and felt more than a little bit guilty about it), then arranged the pages in a sculptural mass, ordered by page number.
Step 2: Photos (of Pile of Pages)
I took hundreds of photographs of my pile. The text, the textures, the order and disorder that happen when legible things start to lose their legibility - it all fascinates me, and I wanted the photographs to convey that fascination.
Step 3: Book (of Photos of Pile of Pages)
I printed the photographs, then bound them back between the original cover and front and back matter, reassembling the book.
This project happened one step at a time, and I deliberately let myself dismiss my questions about why each decision made sense. Many of my projects contain some deeper level of analysis, but as I was making it, this one did not.
I love where this ended up though — a book composed of itself: literary deviled eggs.
In hindsight, it makes sense in the context of the rest of my work. I was taking apart language, rethinking traditional structure (hence the title "Not Books" despite my deep love of books), and skewing legibility to change what it means to hold a book full of words.
Back to Top