Join us for an ‘In Conversation’ – Mark Fearbunce & Angie Butler, Thursday 13th March 11.00 – 11.45 in the Special Collections area of Bower Ashton Library, UWE Bristol. No booking needed, just turn up, free event, all welcome.*

An artwork in two parts: a 54-page collage restructuring every word of Shakespeare’s ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ into alphabetical order, and a three and a half hour digital reading of the collage.

Excessive analysis of classic texts can detract from the reasons they became classics in the first place. Here I’ve attempted the ultimate analysis! In reconstructing the play into a kind of Dadaist or concrete poetry, I hope to draw attention to the absurdity and arbitrariness of the structures that govern our culture. Linguistic and logic structures are most obvious here, but this project sits in a broader context of embedded normativity. The choice of play, ‘The Taming of the Shrew’ is suggestive of this: a play in which ownership and behavioural expectations of women are forefront.

While this work illustrates the absurdity of patriarchal structures (which persist despite decades of robust challenge), and a painfully slow realignment of a gender power balance, it also refers to the conversely hasty submission to technological power. The cutting, sorting and pasting of this collage has taken over two years. Human labour holds a certain power here as does human error. Anomalies in the alphabetising of the play are there to be found. Flaws are embedded. While we might think an AI could produce more perfect results in seconds, it is not able to do so (I’ve tried) and that belief in the potential flawlessness of technology is a fallacy of our contemporary world. To that end, the collage is complemented by a computerised reading of the alphabetised play, itself containing errors and misreadings of the text.

Of Shrew Taming. Limited first edition books (edition of 26) now available. 54 pages of alphabetised joy! £8 each (+£4 postage in UK). Please contact Mark Fearbunce via Instagram (@fearbunce) if you would like to purchase a copy.

To view more images, visit Mark Fearbunce’s Instagram page.

You can listen to the digital reading of the collage here.

*Print in Conversation event at Bower Ashton campus library, UWE Bristol with MARK FEARBUNCE: Artist, Lecturer, Curator. 11.00am – 11.45am – Weds 13th March 2025
Print in Conversation events are led by Angie Butler, Senior Research Fellow CFPR in collaboration with UWE library alongside the exhibition programme at Bower Ashton. These are informal public sessions where it is possible to interact with artefacts on show and talk more candidly with the exhibiting artist. They are free, open sessions for anyone to join. Print in Conversation sessions are recorded and archived on the CFPR website. These are live recordings that capture the in conversation event alongside an audience and Q&A session.

The nearest car parking for visiting UWE Bower Ashton campus is – public parking meters on main road or at Ashton Court.

This exhibition is open to the public Monday – Friday 9am-5pm. No booking needed. The library is on the first floor of B block.

For more information on Bower Ashton Library, visitor access and campus map, see the library website. You can also follow the library’s Instagram feed.

UWE Bristol, City Campus at Bower Ashton, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol BS3 2JT.