Ethos
2015
Artist’s Book
Ethos is a reinterpretation of a book from Special Collections in the San Diego State University Love Library, entitled Descriptive Mentality From the Head, Face, and Hand by Holmes W. Merton (1899). This book by Merton details pseudosciences known as physiognomy and phrenology, both of which concern the ability to determine a person’s identity based on characteristics of his/her appearance. This artist’s book is an attempt to quietly challenge such restrictive ways of reading a person, and includes fragmented photographs and both hand-set letterpress and hand-lettered fragments from Merton’s book. Some photographs were traditionally shot and digitally composed, while others were created using a digital scanner, utilizing a contemporary device to “read” parts of the artist’s physical characteristics.
Hand bound, designed, and printed by the artist in an edition of 4. Woven-strap binding, hand-set letterpress, hand lettering on vellum, archival digital prints made from photographs and scanographs on Japanese Niyodo paper. Approx. 6" x 8" when closed.
