The Perfect Mark (2007)

On the inside book cover are three images mounted on cards. The top is a black-and-white photo of an English manor house. On the bottom is a black-and-white reproduction of a classic American painting of two men in a long shallow boat with a black cat (George Bingham’s “Fur Traders Descending the Missouri”). In the middle and elevated is a black-and-white photo of a gun rack with rifles. Tucked underneath the gun rack picture is a swatch of blue fur with collaged text from an Arabian night story. The background of the inside cover is covered with a wide plaid patterned fabric.
The frame is covered with want ad pages from a magazine. The central image is a lithograph illustration of a partial female figure draped in a white cloth exposing her left shoulder upon which appears a fresh inoculation mark. Pasted over her midsection is a clipping from a grammar primer. Above and tucked underneath this central image, which is slightly elevated, is a plastic replica of a pair of human lungs which is itself lying a top an ornate barrette. The top and bottom inside panels are from a painted illustration of a circus crowd scene. The four-sectioned side panels feature images of conquistadors and Aztecs natives. Hidden behind the center of the side panels are mirrors which reflect back text that is hidden beneath the central image and not otherwise visible. The central background is a color photograph of Korean War soldiers milling about. The title, date, and signature are on the outside bottom of the frame.