Carzou's Reconstruction
48” x 42”
The most intriguing aspect of the project was the similarities I began to feel I had with the
vandalizer. Like him I used a sharp tool, an exacto knife, to cut shapes out of the pages
of the book. He cut elipse-like shapes in the pages. I cut diamonds, squares, and triangles.
His cuts were intrusive leaving most of the book intact. My cuts like his are unrepairable.
I tore pages from the book, utilizing as many of them as I could as well as the back cover.
An eerie felling would sometimes come over me that my act was not really different than
his and my destruction of the book was much greater. It is not unusual for me to
deconstruct damaged and salvaged books. I have been using them as source material
since 1998. Occasionally, the comment would be made to me about how terrible it was
for me to be cutting books. I always felt that I was giving these unwanted books, destined
to be pulped, a new purpose. Yet, receiving the vandalized book from the Library caused
me to question my practices. After mentioning this dilemma to a few friends who swiftly
dismissed the connection between my methods and the acts of the vandalizer, I was able to
come to a tenuous but somewhat comfortable conclusion. The difference between my
practices and the ones of the individual who made the cuts in the book I was adding cuts
to, is intention.
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