THE BEAST IN ME
The Beast in Me is a collection of sentences and part sentences beginning with ‘I’ cut from eight novels by different authors. The statements (over five hundred of them) are presented one after another in a circular narrative with no natural beginning or ending and can therefore be read from any point.
When removed from their original context, they become ham-fisted stabs at self-revelation and blurted snapshots of confession. They contradict one another, and the narrator. The piece explores the power struggle within all of us, where different aspects of our personalities vie for dominance over one another at any given moment, while others yearn for internal balance.
The narrative, whilst light and frivolous in places, descends into a sinister and uncontrollable rant in others.
A previous iteration of the work was installed at Bury Art Museum in 2014, as part of The Text Festival. The piece was re-made with additional text in 2021 for Inscription: The Journal of Material Text, issue 2 on ‘holes’, when a print edition of 500 was commissioned.
2021, found text on paper, 130 x 130cm
