W’s Twisted Meanings

altered dictionary
15 x 14 x 6in.
2003

Selective parts of an English dictionary are cut away in the shape of a ‘W’.  Portions of the text block and the spine of the book are removed making it flexible, allowing the pages to be manipulated into different forms. The deep cuts in the book reveals striations of black ink for the print and white bands for the columns on the pages transforming them into a soft fabric. Mounted on the wall or placed on a flat surface, the book appears to be floating across a vertical plane, as if a photograph of a bird caught it off balance flying in a storm, a wizard’s hat, even a hurricane or ‘twister,’ spinning out of control. Pulled into a fixed position, the book appears to be tortured, reminiscent of circus contortionists that morph their bodies into impossible shapes or Japanese toys transformed into robotic monstrocities.   Metaphorically the form references the misuse of words. The shape of the book when it’s not twisted is a ‘w’.  The allusion to George W. Bush is in his word selection and distorted use of them. Sometimes his words get ‘twisted,’ either intentionally spoken to deceive or by misunderstanding their meanings.