Karin Basel

Johannesburg

INCOMPREHENSION 1 (2016)

Type of book work: Unique / Sculptural / Book Object (one-of-a-kind)
Dimensions: 40 X 100
Media: Found Book

Artist's / designer's statements

A medical dictionary which has been altered so that the pages spiral out of the book and can no longer be read.

We use words to make sense of the word.

The book that I have made is a way of physically representing what happens when a person is unable to comprehend the words in the text that they are reading.

To comprehend a text the reader must be able to decode the letters to form words and then make associations with those words to create meaning. The words help to create concepts in the reader's mind. If there are too many words that the reader cannot comprehend while reading, she is unable to create concepts and so is unable to comprehend the text. Without comprehension the reading experience is meaningless and the reader becomes confused and often frustrated.

This book is a metaphor for the state of frustration and chaos a person feels when they cannot comprehend a text.