An 1,800 Years Old Egg (2009)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The inside cover is covered with a floral fabric of small blue and pink flower buds on a pale yellow background. On the left side of this inside cover is a Romantic-era portrait of a young girl—Girl with a Cat by Perroneau. This painting is arranged atop a section of blue marbled wallpaper sample. A seashell is mounted just above this portrait. To the right of the shell is a shallow box covered with a playing card with an oval cut out of the center. Seen through this hole is an interior decoration photo of an end table in front of a blue wall. Just below this box is a list of terms having to do with the publishing business. Below this list is an etching illustration of a seated man thanking his Great Dane for retrieving his boot. The frame is covered with pages from the encyclopedia set from which this book originally came. The title of this piece, “An 1,800 Years Old Egg,” is a section heading on these pages. The background of the framed area is a color photo of a cliff face with a geological structure resembling church spires. On the center top is a small collaged box containing a miniature replica of a pewter smoking pipe. Behind the pipe is a color illustration of a sample of blue gemstone. Tucked up underneath this small box is a dictionary illustration of a dancing faun of which we can only see the legs and feet. Below this etching is a translucent blue plastic swordfish mounted on a piece of mirror. At the bottom of this section is a capped vial lying on its side and spanning the width of the compartment. Inside the vial is a small amount of beach sand and a text clipping reading, “Many Legs and Great Agility.” The vial rests upon a piece of patterned upholstery fabric. The right and left inside panels of this top compartment are black-and-white photos of Egyptian Kouros sculptures. The top panel of this section is an underwater photograph of seagrass. The bottom section is covered with a color postcard of a red diner in Florida. The postcard has an inch-square window cut in the middle, revealing part of an etching illustration. This postcard is a flap that opens downward revealing the interior of this bottom section. In the center is the full illustration of what was partially revealed through the small square window. It is an illustration of a Scottish lord with a draped woman figure with harp hovering ethereally beside and above him. In the background are the ruins of a castle. This illustration is on a tile which itself can be removed, revealing another interior. This interior box contains a set of collaged cards wrapped with a toy $500 bill. In the background of this central box is a color photograph of a lizard head. To the left and right of this box are two small vials. Inside the bottom third of each vial are photos of facades of old buildings. Atop these illustrations and inside the vials, pinned to a bed of cotton, are disembodied toy plastic heads. In the background of the compartment where the vials are placed are dictionary clippings from the “O” section. Mirrors are on either side of this lower compartment.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: Source Book Encyclopedic - Vol. III Erie - Indiana
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
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