Fait Accompli (2007)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The inside cover is covered with a wallpaper sample featuring classic late nineteenth-century design pattern of large green leaves on a purple background. On the center top of the inside cover is a collaged tile covered with an etching illustration from a medical book showing the nerves on the human face. In the center of this illustration is a small half-inch circle cut out revealing a mirror. The frame is collaged with two different pictures; the sides of the frame are covered with a black-and-white photo of children climbing all over a railroad boxcar, and the upper and lower parts of the frame are covered with color drawings identifying trees. The main area inside the frame contains only a background photo of two red rose buds. A small ornate gold spoon lies diagonally across the roses and to either side of this compartment are mirrors. The top of this section is a color illustration of primeval foliage and the lower part of the frame is an etching illustration of Mount Fuji. This lower section of this assemblage is a drawer covered with text explaining a fathometer (a nautical instrument). A small green disc mounted in the center of the drawer acts as a knob. Inside the drawer a red transparent plastic gem-like bead is mounted atop an ornate short cylindrical bead. The side panels of the drawer are text from an early grammar reader. With the drawer removed we can see in the back — a group portrait etching of five men. To either side of this compartment are lists of words and a color illustration of a variety of flowers covers the bottom. The title, signature, and date are on the outer lower left of the frame.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: The Light of Asia by Sir Edwin Arnold
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
boxcar, children, drawer, etching illustration, fathometer, flowers, foliage, list of words, medical illustration, mirror, Mount Fuji, nerves, plastic gem, primer, purple, roses, spoon, trees, wallpaper pattern, 富士山