The Case for Interplanetary Plasma (1994)
Altered book assemblage
by
Frank Turek
The inside cover is a page from a book listing 66 questions on linear perspective. The unfinished hardwood frame of the assemblage is faced with a wallpaper sample of a lavender scalloped pattern. There are two sections of the framed area — a large open section above and an enclosed area in the bottom third of the frame. A color photo of an orange-colored geological formation of a cliff face covers the whole back and bottom of this main section. In this section, two parallel black wooden dowels are set symmetrically top to bottom as pillars. A black rubber Pegasus figure, rearing up on its hind legs, stands between the pillars. Mounted on a card, a black-and-white photo of an early 20th-century sitting room interior floats above the background, behind the Pegasus figure. At the base of the black pillars is a black-and-white photo of a flashlight shining on two spheres. These objects are lined up in order to demonstrate a lunar eclipse. The ceiling of the upper section is covered with a color photo of ocean waves and a clipping of a comic book illustration of an explosion and the exclamation “Whooom!” This section is flanked on both sides by mirrored glass with the edges painted a Prussian blue. The frame to the lower compartment has the caption, “The Earth and It’s Orbit” on the bottom. The sides of the frame show lists of words from an English primer. And the top of the frame is a black-and-white etching illustration of a mans face cropped to show only his eyes and nose as he looks off to the right. Inside this compartment are etching illustration portraits of three historically famous men. Each portrait is mounted on tile and is invisibly mounted from behind so as to appear to be floating in this space. The curved background is a horizontal abstract aqua-colored wallpaper sample. Inside this lower section, the top is a color photo of a palace ceiling and the bottom is a color illustration of bees crawling on a dead rodent.
Original book cover title:
Book cover used for this piece: Pediatrics: The Hygienic and Medical Treatment of Children by Thomas Morgan Rotch
Some elements of this assemblage. Select one to find other altered books with the same.
bees, comic book, etching illustration, flashlight, geological formation, linear perspective, list of words, mirror, palace, Pegasus, pillars, portrait, questions, rodent, solar model, wallpaper pattern