Newspaper Cuts > Kenosis

political, obsessive, cut paper, newspaper
Selection From "Kenosis", Bin Laden’s Secret Life, May 8, 2011 (Detail)
erased and excised New York Times half sheet
22"x12"
2011

Kenosis is an ancient Greek noun for emptiness or an emptying. In my project Kenosis, I utilize the erasure and excision of the New York Times Newspaper to elicit a sacred experience of the everyday. By physically removing content, I make space for what has been censored in media as well as what is lost in the translation of experience into words. I source ancient narrative formats such as commemorative paper cutting, illuminated manuscripts, medieval musical scores and stained glass - formal foils for the speed of current events. The acidic nature of newspaper and its rapid shift in color aids the association of time passing, highlighting the fragility of the page and the immanent dissolution of print. My process of Kensosis functions as a ritualistic act of beauty to address the deficits of human ingenuity.