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Bomb-Proof Book (ZRC1(ZI2ZFPR))
Rich Spelker
1996
letterpress printed; cast metal enclosure
letterpress printing
4 x 6 x 2 in
number 1
edition of 1
published by Ootheca Press Laboratory
History has been a disaster for the book. It is said that 99% of classical Greek and Roman works have been lost through war, natural catastrophe and, mostly, apathy. Western civilization is based on the assumption that we are created in the image of God. The book is the model of self, therefore if God is dead (a popular idea today) then we and our books are dead also. Libraries become mausoleums of dead reflections. Science & Technology have today become our source for artificial epiphanies. It is rather symbolic that the first nuclear device was called Trinity. According to nuclear scientists in India who oversaw their first test in 1974, a code message, "the Buddha is smiling" was flashed to then prime minister Indira Gandhi confirming its success. The father of India's nuclear weapon program, Abdul Kalam, a religious moslem, said this last May: "Now we have the Islamic Bomb." The relationship between religion and nuclear weapons is now clear. Instead of missives and missals, we now have missiles. In my mind there is a weird link between nukes and books. In building bomb-proof books I have engaged in a futile effort to ensure the survivability of Self. The human condition has offered us threats from the outside and an aggressive nature to react to them, reinforcing the inevitability of mortality. The book has now become weapon and target.
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