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BawdryBeautyBelief

Stephanie Taylor

Los Angeles artist Stephanie Taylor designed the cover art for each book in the TrenchArt Material Series.

Speech was given to the ordinary sort of men whereby to communicate their minds; but to wise men, whereby to conceal it.

—Robert South, sermon 1676

Safe upon the solid rock the ugly houses stand: Come and see my shining palace built upon the sand!

—“Second Fig”, Edna St. Vincent Millay

The TrenchArt Material series work began with a source text – “Second Fig” by Edna St. Vincent Millay (chosen because of the press namesake, Les Figues Press). The short (partial) poem was divided into a series of single syllables. Each syllable generated a list of rhyming words. A new text was then written, loosely based on the syllable sequence of the of the original text.

This is a method of quotation in which what is quoted is not words but sounds. Rhymes relay a sound sequence. By removing a text-portion (in this case a sound) from a familiar setting, there is a hope of avoiding problems of pointless and sloppy citation: when less is retained of the original text (i.e. both the meaning and the associative status), a more active reworking is required.

The lists of rhyming words for book one – TrenchArt Material – included the ever-irresistible “Wok,” which thus shaped the new text into a reworked tale of Chinese Cooking. In this same manner, each word in the new text is based on a rhyme with Millay text. “Prawns,” for example, comes from the –pon of upon, “Plums” from Come.

As the new text describes a tilt and some squids, the accompanying line-art illustrates these elements. Certain details, such as the range and fridge in the background, are presented merely as factual support of a story whose plot, in truth, is a semi-accidental product of words which share a sound. Because the Chinese text says “Chinese Cooking,” the ink must be red like a Chinese menu.

As for book two – Dies: A Sentence – “Jug” came from the –ug of ugly, “hands” from sand. When you have hands and a jug, you’re telling a story of hygiene. The Chinese text says simply, “Cleaning Technique.” Incidentally, the second book is about war, invoking other techniques of cleaning.

Books 3 and 4 (Grammar of the Cage and Requiem), distributed simultaneously, make one picture when put together. Within the narrative framework, the yin-yang mirrors the two-books-as-one concept. Conveniently, in China, even food is divided into Yin and Yang. Book 3 (Grammar of the Cage), a book of poetry, lists Yang foods; book 4 (Requiem), a book of prose, lists Yin foods. The single-syllable foods are listed alphabetically and edited as a sound sequence.

These two covers are not directly generated from the Millay text. Rather, they are meant to demonstrate, by expanding the breadth of explication, that this now is truly a story of Chinese Cooking. The truth, of course, is that it is both a story of Chinese Cooking and a story of a text written from an ongoing perform sound sequence.

Finally, the art for book five – A Story of Witchery – returns to the themes in books one and two. The new text suggests a landscape so the illustration portrays one. The Chinese text says plainly “Inspiration of the Homeland.” Again, coincidentally, the fifth book involves a journey.

— Stephanie Taylor

October 2005, Los Angeles