In Praise of Strong Spines

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine "
Sculptural Decollage
Altered Book, H: 18"x W: 20"x D: 9"

At the beginning of the pandemic when Trump proclaimed the virus was a hoax, I cut up the book Fear: Trump in the White House as an act of defiance to express my rage at the spineless Trump administration. Initially, the destructive act of cutting the pages became an outlet for my anger, but the obsessive repetition of the process ended up meditative.
The destruction of the books comes not as a dismissal of its content but as a transformation from the written into the visual. While they started out as a metaphor of how I felt ‘ripped to sheds’ with loss and anxiety during the Coronavirus crisis, these sculptural decollages, In Praise of Strong Spines express a celebration of the soul. With a strong spine in the face of tragedy, the human spirit can endure and intersects with existential questions of meaning and purpose.

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine "
Sculptural Decollage
Altered Book, H: 18"x W: 20"x D: 9"

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine 4"
Altered Book, H: 7"x W: 9"x D: 4.5," 2020

Detail

In Praise of Strong Spines

"Strong Spine "5
Altered Book, H: 7"x W: 9"x D: 4.5," 2020

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine 4"
Sculptural Decollage
Altered Book, H: 20"x W: 20"x D: 6," 2020

Detail

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine 7"
Altered Book, H: 7"x W: 9"x D: 4.5," 2020

In Praise of Strong Spines
"Strong Spine 3"
Altered Book, H: 7"x W: 12"x D: 4.5," 2020

Amy Bassin