This Is That Our With Them (2018)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The inside cover of this book assemblage is backed with a color reproduction of the John Constable painting The Leaping Horse. On top of the gray sky section of this painting is a tile construction with a removable cover. The top cover is a color illustration of a family hurrying in the rain. A red ribbon tab lifts the top to reveal a color illustration of a manatee. On the reverse side of the cover is a cross-section drawing of a snakehead featuring its poison sac. The frame of this piece is covered with a sparse floral wallpaper pattern on a black background. The top part of the framed section has a color illustration of a man sitting above a small canyon with sheep grazing the bottom. Lying on top of this picture is a broken eyeglasses frame. A toy salamander extends its head and forelegs from the top left corner. On the bottom ledge of this section sits a tiny, dirty, ceramic dog. The top panel of this section is a black-and-white photo of the back of a man’s head silhouetted against a white wall. The lower section of this book contains a removable box. The removable section has two finger holes and is covered with a color photo of autumn leaves. The inside of the removable box is collaged with a color illustration of the flower four-o’clock, and on the sides is a caption from a comic book and a clipping of the heading “Death to the Demons.” The background of this lower section is covered with a color lithograph of the vein structure of an internal organ. Contained within this bottom box are a set of six dice, each with common words on their six sides. One arrangement of these dice gives the title of the artwork—This Is That Our With Them.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: Among Those Absent by Manning Coles
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
comic book, Constable, dice, dog, eyeglass, flowers, leaves, lizard head, manatee, medical illustration, poison, rain, snake, valley, wallpaper pattern