Selections from Mein Kampf
El Sobrante, CA: Lisa Kokin, 1999. This is a unique altered book by Lisa Kokin,and signed by her. She is a noted book artist who also creates art with sewing and alterations, as well as with button work and assemblage. She also is known for acting as a mentor and coach to people in the arts. The book she chose to alter for this work was actually fragments from a Hebrew prayer book for the dead that she found in a disintegrated state at a secondhand shop. The text is from the English edition of Mein Kampf that Kokin has used in the creation of four books. She said that she found the book at a flea market, and it stayed in her studio for many years until she could bring herself to approach it. So the words are Hitler's words in translation. She has rearranged them to create found poetry. In doing so she has created a powerful and evocative piece of book art.
An excerpt:
"superior race or political twerps
men, crammed full of doubt
can not be taken literally.
they have become walking encyclopedias
of despair
their intellectual baggage a tiny knapsack
Nothing more"
The book opens as a if notebook or steno pad, with the boards bound at the top with twine. The boards are chipped, stained and soiled. The title is stamped in gilt on the front cover. Kokin used her sewing artistry to create designs made by her stitches on the pages, with strands of the thread used overlapping the page edges. The English words taken from the Mein Kampf translation are stitched onto pages of the prayer book. In fine condition. Measures 2.5 x 5.25 x 1.25 inches. ARTB/012224. Fine.
Item #37049
Price: $4,500.00