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Voire Dire A Strange Book Club

Voire Dire by Tammy McGrath

The creatures hovering over the piles of books in Tammy McGrath’s Voire Dire are a strange book club. Although they are charred, you can still see some of the titles and covers. The books aren’t completely destroyed, just more than a little damaged.

I just want to sit down and sift through the books. They make me so curious, is that a Stephen King novel? I can’t be sure. John Grisham, but is that Proust? I can’t read them all and even though some covers seem familiar my memory can’t bring the names to the surface. I don’t see many that I recognize from reading, but I’m still a little shocked. Even now, when information flows freely online and (arguably) books are outdated it still hurts to see them scorched.

The books are shocking, but I can’t take my eyes of the bat-like creatures. They seem huge and a bit intimidating. I know that bats are noisy and smelly, but these are ominous in their stillness and silence. I don’t want to turn my back on them, but I also want badly to touch them. They seem feathery and soft; their heavy round bodies seem too big for their wings. I worry about the tails, will they whip around all of a sudden? The creatures as sculptures are fascinating and menacing.

The beasties can simultaneously be seen as guarding and attacking the books. They hover protectively over the piles, chasing away whatever set them on fire, but like those optical illusions, these creatures might have been the ones to start the fire. Each of the creatures seems to have its own nest of books. I can’t tell if any of the books are common to the mounds.

I know the books come from people who know Tammy, but I can’t help but feel there is more story. I looked for a website that would contextualize the books for me. I want to know the reason behind the choice of book. What made her friends pick that particular one? I like books and I like to hear people talk about books. I missed the opening for this show and I’m sure that some of the people who gave books were there. But even though I missed out on their tales, I think I like Voire Dire better as a solitary experience. The way the exhibit is laid out it it feels more intimate this way and I think at an opening it would have felt clausterphobic; especially so since Tammy is so well known here.

When did this happen? December 10, 2009.

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