Print:
Blind-stamped endpapers, Sprayed edges, Metal plate
Language:
IN
Date of Publication:
2024-02-01
Pages:
296
Monument - Trent Parke's flagship publication, is a portal that allows us to witness the disintegration of the universe over 294 pages.
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\nThis monolithic publication is meticulously hand-bound in leather bearing the totemic coordinates of planet Earth, with blind-stamped endpapers, black-painted borders, and a removable steel plate that, when removed, leaves the volume languageless.
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\nWhen Trent Parke moved to Sydney from a small Australian country town, his first impression was the sheer number of people. He would grab his camera and explore whenever he could, fascinated by the endless processions.
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\nAt rush hour, he watches the city's workers move in droves, all walking on the great treadmill of life. In a trance-like state, they followed the same path day after day, week after week, year after year, punching in on time, all in the city's grip. Parke stood on the edge of the wave, on the outside of a new world, looking in. As if he were observing a newly discovered species.
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\n“At night I watched the eclipse of the moths, millions of them constantly circling the lights of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. At the same time, on my balcony, a miniature spectacle was playing out around the light above my head. The moths were inevitably and unstoppably drawn towards their ultimate end. Spiralling out of control, like little spaceships caught in a tractor beam. Drawn and blinded by the bright white light, they were picked off by hundreds of birds that swooped down to catch them in mid-air… spiders waited on their webs. Built with precise coordinates on the face of the lights, they captured the unfortunate little creatures that slipped into them. If one miraculously managed to survive this onslaught, it continued on its way, driven towards the flame, intoxicated by these burning globes of light. Then, suddenly, an electric charge in the still air. A small puff of smoke. Disappearance. Instantaneous disintegration of a life form. Another incident in the universe. Another small spaceship colliding with the burning sun.
