"Wrapped Words" by artist Jody Alexander. Referenced work: The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood. Medium: Mixed media.

Artist statement:

“…Wrapping can connote gifts, death, preservation, and eros,

but it almost always implies value….”

— David Bourdon,

from “Packaging: Revelation Through Concealment,”

Christo (Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2000)

 

The intention of those who ban a book is to hide it from the rest of us, but instead they are wrapping the book up like a present and putting it on a pedestal for us to take notice. In a way, they are honoring the book—implying that it is worthy of being banned.

 

I have wrapped the words of this copy of The Handmaid’s Tale by machine stitching through each line of text, sewing the pages of each signature together, and rebinding it in an unreadable way. This is my way of both honoring and calling attention to it—bundling it up like a gift that I hope is to be unwrapped and read for many years to come.

All Rights Reserved - California Exhibition Resources Alliance

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