Redacted (stop words.)
Sharon Hall Shipp
Wales, UK
My bookmarks are an extension of a recent work, ‘stop words.’ an artist's book consisting of pages randomly selected from eleven classic fiction texts. These pages have had “stop words” extracted. Stop words are those words which are considered to be insignificant to the meaning of a text and so are excluded when texts are processed in library and information retrieval systems. I have taken the stop words from a commonly used list consisting of over 650 words.
Five of the texts from the book have been chosen for the bookmarks - Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, The Abortion: an historical romance, 1984 and Catch 22 – and twenty bookmarks have been made for each title.
The design for the bookmark has been adapted from edge notched cards, a now obsolete method previously used in information retrieval systems.
My art practice is largely concerned with exploring themes around communication and domestic space. My work often has geographical and archaeological dimensions, as I have worked professionally in these fields. I was also an information scientist and librarian, so these approaches can creep in as well.
I work in 2D and 3D with paper, textile, photography (original and found), performance and sound, and use many techniques including drawing, digital drawing, printing, hand-stitching and collage. My work includes altered books and artists' books. I exhibit regularly and my work is in private collections in the UK, Europe and the USA, and in Tate Britain’s collection.