a bookwork
by J. R. Carpenter, 1992
a bookwork | In his essay, "What’s a critic to do?: Critical Theory in the Age of Hypertext", George P. Landow says, "The very idea of hypertextuality seems to have taken form at approximately the same time that poststructuralism developed, but their points of convergence have a closer relation than that of mere contingency, for both grow out of a dissatisfaction with the related phenomena of the printed book and hierarchical thought." (1994) Indeed, at the juncture of my visual and textual works, the bookwork was the straw that broke the camel's back for me. I found myself with dozens of book works - all to fragile to be shown in a gallery (insidiously provided white gloves not with standing), too visual to be published in a regular magazine, too full of text for any one to read them, too physically unique to sit properly on any shelf. Many artists have faced this problem before me and many more will again. I have been accused of being a fatalist in the face of hierarchy and perhaps it's true. Rather than compromise on fragile ephemerality I cut my losses and ran.
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