"The Repulic [that was]" by Plato

(Front)

(Side)

(Close up of Side)

(View of Inside)

(Aerial View)

(Detail View of text)

So.... The original book was "The Republic" by Plato and the finished book turned into something of a found object sculpture. Conceptually, I wanted to make a play on Socrates' idea of justice. (Plato wrote the book but used Socrates as the narrator). Socrates believed that  men, for the most part, understood justice. However, could the same thing be said 1500 years later?

I thought about tv, film, literature, and culture. I even looked around my house. I came to the conclusion that the romantic idea of abiding by the law (in the way Socrates described his culture) does not match up with today. In the book, I juxtapose the past with the present. Bullets and books don't make sense but they are tied together with Socrates' philosophy on justice. 

I tried playing with the words of Socrates and threw in a quote by Clint Eastwood "You've got to ask yourself one quesiton: Do you feel lucky?" The book is also functional; you can pick it up by the handle (it slowly started to look like a bomb) In addition, I added wire, and empty bullet shells, cloth, and paint (all things that were in my house). Side note: my grandfather hunts so the shells were easy to find....  Anyway, I also took pages from the book as a symbol of empty words. Each little piece added or taken away symbolizes the question, "Does this measure up to the past and are we 'OK' with that? " 

Artists like Barbara Kruger and Robert Rauschenberg were influences. 


Jessica