Shuffle the Deck: Is this the end?
In this exhibit, we have explored three artists books:
1.) Mallarme's Coup de Des
2.) El Lissitzky's About Two Squares
3.) Moore's Paper Pong
These artist books have all exhibited a certain level of reader's interaction in which you, the reader, have been forced to make some decisions to interpret the meaning behind these works. We looked at the book as a conceptual playground where we could pick and choose which toys to use. With Mallarme we were in a confined space, with El Lissitzky we had a little more obscurity, and finally with Moore we reached a playground that was unconfined - where the sky was the limit with choices. At last in the digital age, the reader is granted full autonomy. It is important to note that all of the works used in this exhibit had a codex form, which the digital representation of these works detracted from a bit. The gutter for "Coup de Des" was removed, making it slightly easier for the reader to make certain choices on what to read first. The act of page turning was completely omitted in About Two Squares and Paper Pong which subtracts the ease of the reader to choose between flipping back and forth in the pages. However, it is certainly quite interesting to see how the codex has evolved over time, and so has the development of reader's choice. We began in 1897 with Mallarme merely teasing us with typography and the ability to choose our own paths. Next, we step into El Lissitzky's world of war at 1922 in which Communism was rampant in Russia. El Lissitzky opens up our eyes a bit through ambiguous cues like Suprematist, abstract art, giving us more choice in interpretation. Finally, we enter the age of technology in 2008 with Richard Moore's Paper Pong, which is governed by monitors yet we are presented a paper console that gives us full independence to create our own story. Does this mean that our current society gives us more freedom to make our own decisions? This chronology would appear to say so.
Although you have reached the end of this exhibit, there are many more choices that you will make in your future aside from interpreting artist books. Check out the radial arcs that combine all the chapters and paths of this book. Shuffle the deck, begin another game, and choose another chapter - or you could just close the page and never have to deal with this again.
Choose wisely.
