Figure Study (2018)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The inside cover of this book is backed with a section of blue-and-green scallop patterned wallpaper. Mounted on this cover just below center on the left is a pouch made of light brown fake fur and containing a set of ten cards from the board game Uncle Wiggily. Collaged on the backs of these cards are black-and-white photos of a man in a variety of gymnastic poses. The frame of this box is covered with a color photo of the ocean with a beach and a cliff in the foreground. Inside the framed section, arranged in a vertical column, are three rubber animals—a rat, a centipede, and a grasshopper. Pinned on top of each animal are text clippings of comparative adjectives from a primer, each attached with different color map pin. Each of these animals rests atop a different background. At the top, the rat sits on a color illustration of a cornfield with a cross-section showing a woodchuck burrow. At the bottom, the grasshopper stands above a color illustration of various symbols of good and bad luck. And in the middle, the centipede lies on a block of text from a teacher’s guide on how to instruct children about animals. The inner sides of the frame have mirror panels on all four sides.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: Head Hunting in the Solomon Islands by Caroline Mytinger
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
athlete, beach, centipede, collaged cards, farm, fur, game card, grammar primer, grasshopper, gymnast, luck, map tacks, mirror, ocean, rat, wallpaper pattern, words