Saturday, March 17, 2018

Rippin' for Gordon - #065 - John Cleland's Memoirs of an Artist of Pleasure

John Cleland
Fanny Hill


Granada Publishing Ltd
First published in this edition in 1970
by Mayflower Books Ltd
Frogmore, St Albans, Herts AL2 2NF
Reprinted 1970 (twice), 1973

Originally published in 1963 by
Mayflower Books Ltd
Revised edition published 1964
Reprinted many times
The Trial of Fanny Hill was written by
Richard Bennett and published by kind
permission of The Sunday Telegraph
Made and Printed in Great Britain by
Cox & Wyman Ltd
London, Reading and Fakenham
Set in 10 on 11pt Monotype Baskerville

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall 
not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, 
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.
This book is published at a net price and is supplied
subject to the Publishers Association Standard
Conditions of Sale registered under the Restrictive
Trade Practices Act, 1956


11,0 x 17,5 cm, 226p, softcover


On 17 March 2018 I ripped the 226 pages from John Cleland Fanny Hill, 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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