Sorted Books: Look Who’s Talking
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
“Sorted Books” is my longest ongoing project. It began in 1993 and has taken place on many different sites over the years, including in the private homes of friends, in rare book libraries, and in the archives of important literary figures. The process is the same in every case: I sort through a collection of books, make note of particular titles, and eventually group the books into clusters so that the titles can be read in sequence. The final results are most often shown as photographs of the book clusters, but on occasion, I exhibit the grouped books themselves. Taken as a whole, the clusters are a cross-section of that library's holdings that function as a kind of portrait.
At part of my 2023 solo exhibition Uncommon Denominator: Nina Katchadourian at the Morgan, I worked with the Carter Burden Collection of American Literature, which was amassed by that bon vivant, politician, and philanthropist between 1978 and 1995. Burden embraced the high and the low, traditions both popular and obscure. I loved finding a paperback detective novel with a provocative title beside an archival box housing a letter from John Steinbeck. Burden often sought out every edition of a given title, and I sometimes took advantage of his “repeats” to construct groupings featuring a reiterated word or phrase.
Chilly Scenes of Winter from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Big Sur from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic print, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Dialogue over a Ouija Board from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
A Letter Explaining Why He Could Not Write an Introduction for This Book, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.
Battle of Angels, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Lady From Dubuque, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Exterminator!, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Winter Insomnia, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Jazz, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Johnny Panic, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Remember To Remember, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Americans, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Hustler, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Middle Aged Man on the Flying Trapeze, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
These Men Know, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.
The Sergeant Says, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.
The Two-characters Play, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Ways of White Folk, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.
Two Serious Ladies, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
The Case of the Worried Waitress, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Young Man with a Horn, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.
The Free-lance Pallbearers, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 12.5 × 19 inches.
Some Time, from the series Look Who’s Talking, 2022, from the project “Sorted Books,” 1993 and ongoing. Digital chromogenic prints, 15 × 12.5 inches.