High Passage (2022)

The inside cover is covered with a dark brown wallpaper sample with a bright abstract floral pattern. Taking up nearly the whole cover are two hinged boxes featuring black-and-white photos of two boys playing with erector sets. The sides and inside of the boxes are covered with text from an American history book. Inside each compartment is a deck of seven cards from a charades game which are collaged on their backs with etching illustrations of scenes from violent American history stories. One set of cards is labeled “prize card’” and the other deck is ‘“penalty card.” Each deck is contained in a sleeve constructed out of a folded Rene Magritte painting. Each deck rests within the compartment on a pad of green felt. The frame is covered with text from a historical article on Franklin’s Albany Plan. The background in the framed section is a tinted black-and-white photo of ancient columns in Luxor, Egypt. Inset in the center of this photo is an etching of an early barometer which is set beneath a piece of amber glass. Running horizontally at the bottom of this section is a construction made from copper fittings, glass fuses, and a piece of purple boot lacing. Directly below this construction is a list of the numbers 9 through 13. Across the top half of the compartment are two parallel light blue rods containing a stripped feather of the same length. The framed section is topped with a tilted panel with a color photo of a section of a snow-covered mountain range. The side panels are sepia-toned photos of horse-drawn carts traveling down an old Italian road. The bottom inside of the frame is a color drawing of a prototypical Norwegian fjord.