Erin K. Schmidt

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      • what news
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  • Home
  • books
    • all books
    • birds of a feather >
      • As The Crow Flies
      • Dumped for a Stripper
      • fight or flight
      • Icare
      • sanctuary
      • the dovecote
      • the birds and the bees
      • wrecked
    • body language >
      • anamnesis
      • covfefe
      • hem/o
      • hoax
      • jubblies
      • long blonde hair
      • Learning to Knit
      • perforate
      • THE END OF THE WASP SEASON
      • The Unfinished Blanket
      • tiny maps
      • TRIUMPH
      • veiled muse
    • forest through the trees >
      • day/night
      • house in the wood
      • little canopies
      • the coyote's gift (in shadows)
      • tempted
      • remember me with affection
    • sheep's clothing >
      • 1954
      • buried in memory
      • I remember how we met
      • winter stayed late
    • troubled water >
      • life is but a dream
      • loon lake
      • not this year
      • tea and water pipe
      • Tea Party
      • Telling Time
      • waves
      • what news
  • about
    • exhibitions
    • collections
    • education
    • bibliography
    • awards
  • contact

what news

The central image is a pastel drawing of a quiet canal in Venice. This serene scene is fragmented into flags.  Text is printed on the backs of the flags.  The text, taken from Act 3 Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, has been removed from the original context and rearranged to tell of the search for a missing girl.  The lines were originally spoken by the two characters Tubal and Shylock, but in this book they become the uneasy words and thoughts of only one, the person who is desperately searching.  The text, in contrasting fonts and colors, indicates both an aside spoken to the viewer and a thoughtful soliloquy.  The combination of the text and the still image create an uneasy narrative with little information being offered as to who is lost, who is looking, and why.  Pleas for news of the girl is printed on the inside covers. 

Flag book. Ink jet printed BFK 280 gsm, ink jet printed mulberry, decorative paper, Japanese mohair silk bookcloth. 8 ¾" x 2 ½" x 5/8" closed, 8 ¾" x 7" x 2 ½" open. Edition of 20. 2016.