Dog Ear

the long version

"The concept of Dog Ear is simple and straightforward: dog-eared pages of mass-market paperbacks are photographed to isolate the small diagonally bisected squares or rectangles of text. The photographs are formally quite neutral and sedate—cursorily reminiscent of Alber's "Homage to the Square" series of prints, paintings and tapestries—but the text also demands attention and it is what allows or coaxes the viewer to linger. As Kenny Goldsmith says in his introduction: "The idea that there's no one correct way to engage with an artwork is at the heart of Erica Baum's Dog Ear series. Do we see them or do we read them? If we choose to read them, how should we read? Across the fold? Through it? Around it? If we choose to look at Baum's pictures, how should we see them? As artistic photographs? Documentation? Text art?"--Publisher's website.