This book plays with the viewer's sense of perspective.
Even calling it a book changes our perspective. The windows are filled
with the dim shadows of people caught in the midst of their multifarious
activities, such as drinking, sword-swallowing, dancing, reading,
stealing, sleeping, making the maid dust the upper shelves, etc. etc.
These stories are "legible" from some angles, "illegible"
from others, and sometimes "multi-legible."
To further complicate the perspective, a text accompanies the "book."
This text is composed of independent sentences and phrases that have
no fixed order and no fixed position. The phrases are on magnets and
produce different meanings when juxtaposed with different window scenes.
All of the sentences in the text come from Shakespeare's most banal,
conventional and perfunctory lines, such as "I cannot get him
out of the house" (Coriolonus, Act 4, Scene 5) and "He's
married" (Othello, Act 1, Scene 2) and "Well, well, well."
(Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 1) It may be that our culture owes as much
to this ordinary-language Shakespeare as it does to the official Shakespeare
of famous quotations. Is it plagiarism ? can we say anything that
wouldn't be?
The book consists of 3 pages (16" x 20").Each page includes
an hinge roof. Very strong magnets allow this book to be exhibited
as a triangular house, or accordion. Each page can also be displayed
independently on a wall. Magnetic text can be placed anywhere on the
surface of the book. The page with the Shakespeare citations can be
displayed with the book.
