“The idea that there’s no one correct way to engage with an artwork is at the heart of Erica Baum’s Dog Ear series. Do we see them or do we read them? If we choose to read them, how should we read? Across the fold? Through it? Around it?”


The concept of Dog Ear is straightforward: dog-eared pages of mass produced paperbacks are photographed to isolate the small diagonally bisected squares of text. The horizontal and vertical lines of text merge and interconnect, appearing as a labyrinthine network comprised of furrowed narrative and brief, whimsical verse. The coarse grain of the sepia toned paper reminds the reader that these webs of script came from physical, tactile objects–one can almost smell the musty aroma from the book’s jacket.


Included are essays written by Kenneth Goldsmith and Beatrice Gross.