the weight of a story
depends on
the obsession
to fill the gaps
with solid arguments
– – -working hypothesis of a text linguist
Category Archives: object
Out of the constitution
I have changed the constitution of the GDR. I cut out all the dead and abstract words. Only few words still had life inside, sometimes just one or two words per page would still speak. I gave them hold with a red thread.
Now the text is in an almost transparent constitution, even the bondage of the thoughts within is exposed. The roots of the new text continue to be visible on the backside of the remaining words.
Here is the poem of the amended constitution. Every line represents a page.
(rough translation).
/CHAPTER 1, Political Foundation/
in town and country clasped in the lower part
the freedom of another people
The natural resources, the mines, power stations, dams and large waters, the natural wealth of the continental shelf are fundamental
air of home
values as a matter of physical culture
/SECTION II, Citizens and Communities in the Society/
every [she] every [he]
man and woman
freed
secret
present invulnerability
the church of their mother tongue
/CHAPTER 3, The Unions and their Rights/
They take part in the revolution
/CHAPTERL 4, The Production Cooperatives and their Rights/
voluntary
/CHAPTER 1, The People’s Chamber/
actualizes evolution
for the duration of worry
fact of presence
on the 60th day on the 45th day on the 15th day
/CHAPTER 2, The State Council/
after the reelection
writes questions
/CHAPTER 3,The Council of Ministers/
It issues names
for collective cognition
/SECTION IV, Legality and Administration of Justice/
Life directly
independent – bound
being listened to
the decision to turn
The constitution changed
in power.
Before I altered the complete constitution I had ripped out some pages and changed them separately. You can see them here and here. The words that I had cut out became the base of my suggestions for an organically shaped constitution, like the one below.
Departure of Books
I’ve started to alter books again. I want to show the book as a temporary state of halt, before the next movement sets in.
The starting point for “signs of departure” have been a few cracked eggs which I altered with Indian ink and scraps of text. The moment of breaking the egg, the departure itself, is already over, but it can still be deduced from the shells that are left here.
The second altered book is ready for departure. It has packed its valuables into a bundle. The most important thing for the new adventure has been placed at the top, where it is easy to access. And that “und” – German for “and”.
Memories of an earlier departure influence the third book that is undergoing transformation. I transferred a photograph of a stack of wood – complete with marks for further processing – to the left side. The pattern of stacked circles and marks repeats on the pages on the right side. What the next processing phase will bring is yet unknown.
somewhat savage
Lately I have been working a lot with a Reclam paperback from 1984: Hans Christian Andersen. Fairy Tales and Stories. The pages are thin and yellowed and they hold beautiful words. For instance “the flowers were dancing on the stems” or “the dresses turned into feathers”. Perfect for creating something new!
But an Andersen tale in one piece is not inspiring to me at all. So circuitous and verbose. So morally instructive. And look at the heroines who remain in memory basically as nice and sweet-natured. Despite the disappointment that Andersen has in store for them: The little mermaid, the little match girl or Gerda, who goes all the way to the Snow Queen.
At any rate, this book has reached a new phase in its life. Maybe i hit puberty. It became a little savage, defiant. It is also feeling insecure, as yet. And it still loves to play as I found out when doing the pictures.
Additional pictures from the fairy tale book gone wild can be seen here und here.
The astonished book
The book
Got older
And into the cellar
Nine years of hope
Motionless, in yellow
End abruptly with a yearning
for simplification:
To rip out pages
Separately, in sections
Wordwise, folding the cocoon
Nine months or hours
Later, with the first sun ray
Opens slowly
The binding und releases
A tender and still unguarded
Little letter
o
The poem from March 2013 led to the astonished book which had a different name before its transformation.
New word hangings
At a hobby shop I discovered 25×25 cm pieces of wire mesh. They seemed perfect for stabilizing words on the loose! My first experiment was with text loops circling around the wire. It created an atmospheric 3D structure.
For my second experiment I wanted to sew the text to the wire. I cut Scandinavian troll tales into stripes, marked some with Indian ink and waxed them partially before stitching. The structure got more dense and ready to absorb some characters.
More pictures (click to enlarge)
My first word hangings are heroic legends, crocheted with wool. Have a look!
Mended Bowls
Creative destruction: Some time ago I made two paper bowls with a bit of blue paper. They turned out rather nice, but something was missing. They had nothing interesting to tell. So I finally destroyed them: I ripped the blue one into three pieces. And from the grey bowl I cut out some drop shaped forms. Well, then I took needle and yarn and mended the broken bowls again.