Brian Singer
Who wants flowers when you’re dead? Nobody. , 2021
60 x 31
in
copies of Catcher in the Rye, archival ink
Brian Singer explores the printed word as a visual representation of information, attempting to uncover new meaning in what is becoming an outdate form. Focusing on the edges of book pages, and the patterns discovered when cutting through written texts, creates an entirely different view of the once familiar object. By deconstructing books and reassembling them, he seeks to breathe new life into millions of hidden words, sentences, and stories.
Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, is one of the most banned books of all time. The process for these pieces involves hand printing letterforms onto the faces of book pages. The pages are then cut into thousands of strips and turned on their edges. These are arranged to re-form the letters using just the slivers of cut book page edges. Catcher in the Rye has been one of the artist's favorite books since reading it in high school. "I connected with the protagonist, Holden, as I navigated my teenage angst years (and to be honest, many of my adult angst years as well). While it’s technically not a dystopian novel, I include it in my ThisTopia series because of Holden’s attitude and approach to the futility of it all. Plus, I just love his quotes."
