142,000 Tons of Crude Rubber (2009)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The background of the inside cover is covered with a floral-patterned fabric wallpaper sample. Centered on the top is a painting of farmers in the field by Milet. Above the painting is a cylinder resting on top of a wooden disc game piece. Wrapped onto the cylinder is a color photo of the head of the man looking downward. The cylinder is lined with green fur and contains an eyedropper with a clipping of text in it. Next to the cylinder is a list of words and terms relating to writing. The frame is covered with text from pages from the encyclopedia set from which this book originally came. The background of the top section of the frame is a color photo of a crowded beach. Two pieces of amber glass are lying over the lower section of this photo. Just above the glass on the right-hand side is a large puzzle piece wooden puzzle piece with a swatch of text pasted on. On the top left is a toy white arm extended down holding a string. The string is threaded though an old rubber ball covered with cracking white paint. The string continues down through the windshield of a toy racing car and is held down by a pin on the far right-hand side.
The side panels of this top section are line drawing illustration of left and right views of the rib cage.
The bottom section is covered with a colored postcard of a landscaped Florida park with 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 to 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 two 18th-century country woman dancing and a man with a fiddle. 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 black-and-white photo of sailors asleep on the deck of a modern ship. To the left and right of this box are two small vials. Inside the bottom third of each vial are etching illustrations of mechanical die sets. 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 F section. Mirrors are on either side of this lower compartment.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: Source Book Encyclopedic Vol. VII Tapioca – Z; Topical Index
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
anatomy, beach, collaged text, colored glass, dictionary clippings, disembodied head, eye dropper, fabric sample, farmers, fiddle, game piece, green fur, Milet, plastic figures, playing card, puzzle piece, rib cage, rubber ball, string, toy, toy car, vials, wallpaper pattern