bookwork by Jaquinta
Latham sawed books in half and using plaster made them into sculptural objects. The books could no longer be read. But that was the point. He saw the book as a symbol of language and power.
His object books spoke out against the inaccessibility of knowledge and learning to many because of the way in which the education system is organised by those in our society with power and authority. Knowledge recorded in the pages of a book is usually accessed by turning the pages in a space of time. Latham saw his unreadable books as events that could be understood in a moment using our intuition.
Having always been an avid reader I have never regarded books as inaccessible quite the reverse. Though with hindsight I realise now that I have not always read critically questioning the received knowledge before me and recognising the limitations of language.
Likewise when I first saw Latham's bookworks in the London galleries I didn't really understand them. It takes time and repeated exposure to understand art.
My own relationship towards books is changing. At one time I would be upset is I got a stain on a page or creased the spine of a paperback. Now I underline text, write my own comments and pull books apart to create book sculptures. I no longer hold all of them in high regard as being the last word on a given subject. And so I can discard those books that are more pulp that knowledge.
If knowledge is contained in books that are inaccessible to so many because of the language used and their location in an educational institution should not we as a society rethink our whole notion of learning. Does learning have to be book based?
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