For the book collector a dog-ear has a nasty bite, its presence as Kenneth Goldsmith points out in his introductory essay “even when smoothed out and returned to its upright position, scars the page forever.”
But for Erica Baum the dog-ear opens up new possibilities for engaging with the text. For the Dog Ear series Baum carefully dog-eared pages of mass market paperbacks and then photographed them.
The diagonal line becomes not only the chosen method of saving one’s place but also the jumping off point. The line begets new lines and ultimately new meaning.
Published by Ugly Duckling Presse Dog Ear features 24 full-page plates of Baum’s photographs and essays by Kenneth Goldsmith and Béatrice Gross.
Copies available here
An interview with Baum at Mousse Magazine
Erica Baum on ubuweb.