art history and criticism, U. of Chicago Press (paperback),
1999, 161 pages
reviewed by Deane Rink, deanerink@hotmail.com
Deane Rink, writer, producer, and project director, is a voracious
reader with very eclectic tastes. He sends us short, provocative
reviews, introducing us to fascinating books that otherwise might
pass unnoticed. He has worked for PBS, National Geographic, the
American Museum of Natural History, Hearst Entertainment, and Carl
Sagan. From his involvement in numerous projects about science, he
has remarkable insight into present-day scientific endeavors and
their implications, and in-depth knowledge of specialized fields
(like Antarctica from his two "Live from Antarctica" PBS
productions. But he also savors provides illuminating commentary on
literature, fantasy, biography, and popular fiction. Links to Deane's
other reviews. You can reach him at deanerink@hotmail.com
J. S. G. Boggs is an artist whose art is that he draws facsimiles of
paper money and then attempts to spend or barter them as if they
were legal tender. This biography is an expansion of a profile
done for The New Yorker, and is as much a philosophical disquisition
on the relative values of art and commerce as it is a conventional
portrait of the artist. In fact, there are pages that trace
the history of currency, setting the stage, so to speak, for the
appearance of the artist Boggs.
Boggs is not merely a master engraver. He is a cultural
revolutionary who has been arrested for his art; indeed, one
senses that he needs the arrest and social disapprobation for the
depth of his art to be recognized. Boggs has committed himself to
going an entire year without the use of conventional money, and
has developed a network of willing aiders and abettors. One
of the more delicious ironies of Boggs's trade is that his works
(always done on one side only with a blank on the reverse) have
become quite valuable, often exceeding "face value" by orders of
magnitude. But as Boggs points out, that is how it should
be. After all, there's more labor involved in meticulously
hand-drafting a perfect replica than in running specially-marked
paper through a massive printing press.
Dialogue on favorite books with Deane Rink before and during his
latest trek to Antarctica, with a note from Bill Ransom and a
digression about Frank Herbert (a.k.a Bookbabble 101) -- a very
long and rapidly growing document: