The Rise and Fall of Civilisation: Blacked-out Book, 1974
Printed paper, paint, letraset
H 2016/520
Purchased 2016
In this artist’s
book, Sydney-based conceptual artist Mike Parr (b. 1945) has taken a 1953
economic history volume by Shepard B Clough, The Rise and Fall of Civilisation, and covered over its text with
precise, rectangular blocks of black paint. Primarily a performance artist,
Parr’s works often focus on themes of destruction and violence. In his Blacked-out Book, Parr has inflicted
violence on Clough’s text, critiquing the act of writing history by changing
the text from meaningful marks to nothingness.
Mike Parr’s
artistic practice encompasses performance art, video, sculpture, printmaking
and drawing.
Inscription inside
from cover of book: ‘I had this idea that I would like to get another copy of
this book (same edition etc etc) and do the same to it as I have done to this
copy, except that I would paint everything out white this time. This way I
would have black/white copies of the history of Western Civilization. Mike
Parr, May 1974’.
Mike Parr
established the Sydney artist-run gallery ‘Inhibodress’ alongside Peter Kennedy and Tim Johnson in 1970, to display
conceptual and installation art.
Dr. Shepard B.
Clough was a professor of economic history at Columbia University and wrote
books including The Rise and Fall of
Civilisation (1953), Basic Values of
Western Civilisation (1960) and Economic
History of Europe (1969).
Mike Parr’s sister,
Julie Rrap, is also a successful performance artist.
Blacked-out book
was first exhibited as part of Trans Art
1: Idea Demonstrations at the gallery 'Inhibodress' in 1971. This work is Parr’s earliest
exploration of purification of text and destruction, themes which he has
returned to throughout his career.
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