Jenn Law

barnacle books

 

Entitled Library, these books originated from a larger body of work examining mimicry and language through the lens of evolutionary theory and the writing and research of Charles Darwin.  Darwinian theory is characterized by its attention to process and the mechanisms by which species change and adapt over time.  This research became the inspiration for an ongoing series of barnacle books, a library that continues to grow incrementally, mimicking the slow progress of creating and collecting a body of knowledge.

 

Charles Darwin spent 8 years studying barnacles and published 4 volumes on the subject before he published On the Origin of Species (1859).  Although Darwin was concurrently writing On the Origin of the Species, the famous manuscript sat unpublished in his desk drawer while he strove to complete his definitive study of ‘Cirripedia’.  In many ways, barnacles were Darwin’s weight and procrastination, but also where he found meaning in his work.

 

Here, the barnacles on the covers are made from the pages of the books, the resulting holes in the text impeding one's reading and understanding.