Saturday, January 20, 2018

Rippin' for Gordon - #050 - John Dunning Chronicles Some of the Most Bizarre Art Projects of Recent Times

John Dunning
Deadly Deviates


Arrow Books Limited
62-65 Chandos Place, London WC2N 4NW

An imprint of Century Hutchinson Limited

London Melbourne Sydney Auckland
Johannesburg and agencies throughout
the world

Firt published 1986

© John Dunning 1986

This book is sold subject to the condition that it 
shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, 
resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without 
the publisher's prior consent in any form of 
binding or cover other than that in which it is 
published and without a similar condition 
including this condition being imposed on the 
subsequent purchaser.

Printed and bound in Great Britain by
Anchor Brendon Limited, Tiptree, Essex

ISBN 0 09 945280

11,0 x 17,8 cm, 296p, softcover



On 20 January 2018 I ripped the 296 pages from John Dunning Deadly Deviates, tore them in half and threw them in the Hole I've been Diggin' for Gordon in a basement at an undisclosed location in Antwerpen since 20 February 2006.
The title refers to Gordon Matta-Clark whose last and major work ‘Office Baroque’ in Antwerpen I illegally visited at the start of my career as an artist. The performance/installation evolved into a ‘mash-up’ with ingredients from the works of various avantgarde artists from the 70’s. For instance a slant row of florescent lights inspired by Dan Flavin takes care of lightning and an endless ladder as imagined by Vito Acconci makes it possible to get in and out of the hole. The work was made visible through a number of side actions and performances where I used some of the dirt I had been digging up. Most of the dirt was used to fill up James Lee Byars' tomb.
As of 9 September 2017 the Hole is filled with precious books from my private library.





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