Firstly I am not claiming that John Farmer’s announcement was in any way connected to art or an art movement or that his intentions were remotely similar to the artists I will mention. However, when the apparent destruction of religious books is claimed art, similar controversy is caused.

‘Sacred, Sacrosant or Just art?’ was the title given to a debate held by the Tate in 2005. This followed the controversial censorship of John Latham’s piece ‘God is Great#2’, which included the Koran, The Bible and the Torah. With this artwork a debate between iconoclasm, censorship, freedom of speech and creation through destruction was highlighted. The censorship of Jane Clarke’s piece which included the Bible in 2009 at the GOMA shows the on-going issues created by this work, and the overall controversy caused by the medium ‘altered’ books. John Keane also faced controversy when he used pages of the Koran in the painting ‘Alien Landscape’ in 1992.

What is perhaps most interesting about these cases is the context. The judgement of this work does not only concern the intention but both the reception and the context. I do not aim to present an argument for or against the ‘alteration’ of religious text but present the complextity of this issue in the contemporary sensitive political context, and particularly how the change in perceptions since The Satanic Verses and September the 11th has effectd the censorship and reaction this work. The context of September the 11th had a huge impact on the medias reaction to John Farmer’s announcement. However it could be argued that September the 11th effected our interpretation not only of current art but also past art, not intended for this contentious context. The controversy caused by ‘Burn a Koran day’ will perhaps put an end to artists or writers altering any religious text.

Iconoclastic artwork raiss issues on the value of objects. Even though the book is a mass produced object, its spiritual resonance defines it as something more than just an object. When the artist alters the book, they therefore question the role of the book in the 21st Century. Therefore there is something very different about the intention of an artist and the deliberate destruction of a religious book as a violent form of criticism. However when altering a religious book the artist faces a dangerous risk of being wrongly interpreted. The censorship of this work is highly influenced by the sensitive political context therefore it would take either a brave or perhaps careless artist to alter a religious book given the recent controversy.

To me this shows more than ever that the artist needs to consider the context and how this will shape perception. Consequently the ‘altered’ religious book will rarely escape the sensitive political climate, therefore this needs to be considered when the artist is creating.

Wuthering Heights is both the material and the subject matter to explore. As each theme is explored another link is created. This on going process all leads back to the one book.

Research and reading is central to my work. The links created through research are made physical from the books to the installation. This makes a comment on the amount of research we put into the context and subject matter of our artwork and exactly how much is understood by the viewer.

The layers of text show the build up of research and information. These images are taken from my studio, this piece is still in process.

 The text is dissected then attached to the sheets. From the outside this mass of information becomes a confused babel of information, when entering the piece the constructed spider webs can be seen. The area becomes a cacoon of research. The build up of information creates a palimpsestic feel.

http://www.carabarer.com/palimpsests/

I have just created an art rabbit profile to keep track of favourite and interesting events relevant to my practice.

To begin the series of deconstructions for the degree show I re-read Wuthering Heights. During this reading I highlighted themes that began to appear and annotated important parts. Since this reading, the themes have become more complex, as the opposites turn into apparent opposites, the work becomes more complex.