Enid Crow Interview

Enid Crow is the elusive artist and author of Silent Susurration a fictional text written in invisible language. She is quietly asserting herself on the post-conceptual art scene by staging Invisible Book Signings in which crowds wait for her not to make an appearance. In this rare interview, Enid discusses the philosophy and politics behind her art and writing.

LAB: Enid, before now, you've been best known for your paradoxical Xeroxed anti-self-portraits and eyebrow-raising performance-installations. What was the impetus for you to write your first novel, Silent Susurration dubbed by you "a post-conceptual realist romance"?

Enid Crow: I'm interested in the similarities between written language and visual art. They both employ sets of visual symbols used to communicate thoughts and ideas. As children, we memorize the Roman alphabet which is employed by an artist/author to re-present images on canvas, or rather, "on paper" in pedestrian terms. The letters c-a-t in isolation usually represent the same thing--a furry, four-legged animal. However once you begin to combine letters of the alphabet and juxtapose these letter combinations (words) the mind has to work harder to decipher meaning. What is c-a-t-f-i-s-h? Well, that's easy, it's a combination of letters we've learned from experience. But what happens when we see this combination: c-a-t-p-r-i-d-e?

Contrary to the old saying, you can judge a book by its cover.

We are also conditioned to accept certain elements in art-- the color green for example. We learn to expect grass will be green, asparagus will be green, and so on. What happens when a green stripe appears on a person's nose? Or a grapefruit is used for a hat? It can be very unsettling at first.

I decided to write Silent Susurration after years of introspection and intellectual labor. I suppose it's been brewing since my early days as an art-history student--reading Dada and surrealist poetry. My early group, the Bhau Movement, took an interest in speaking entirely original phrases. So in response to a professor's query about the function of deus ex machina in Greek drama, we might answer: "Bite the running observatory in jasper buttons picnic." Needless to say, we weren't surprised when our professors gave us a final grade of "Q-", rather than the conventional "A", "B", or "C". (Laughter.)

Those early experiments led to the inevitable rejection of all known language and the creation of a singular, self-defined alphabetic code. Mine is invisible as well as inaudible. I used this code to create my book.

By the way, have you seen my book reviews? It's been called a "mute-iny against lingual oppression" and "an ecstatic celebration of the unstable relations between language and identity."

ARTLAB TALKS WITH ENID CROW WORD UP	Anti-self portrait #49 as Japanese Prime Minister Keizo Obuchi
Enid Crow is the elusive artist and author of Silent Susurration a fictional text written in invisible language. She is quietly asserting herself on the post-conceptual art scene by staging Invisible Book Signings in which crowds wait for her not to make an appearance. In this rare interview, Enid discusses the philosophy and politics behind her art and writing. LAB: Enid, before now, you've been best known for your paradoxical Xeroxed anti-self-portraits and eyebrow-raising performance-installations. What was the impetus for you to write your first novel, Silent Susurration dubbed by you "a post-conceptual realist romance"? Enid Crow: I'm interested in the similarities between written language and visual art. They both employ sets of visual symbols used to communicate thoughts and ideas. As children, we memorize the Roman alphabet which is employed by an artist/author to re-present images on canvas, or rather, "on paper" in pedestrian terms. The letters c-a-t in isolation usually represent the same thing--a furry, four-legged animal. However once you begin to combine letters of the alphabet and juxtapose these letter combinations (words) the mind has to work harder to decipher meaning. What is c-a-t-f-i-s-h? Well, that's easy, it's a combination of letters we've learned from experience. But what happens when we see this combination: c-a-t-p-r-i-d-e?	LAB: How do you respond to the critics of your book who look at it and say there's nothing there? EC: The reader is responsible for constructing meaning. If the critics can't see anything, it says more about them than the book itself. Perhaps those critics should close their eyes the next time they read it. What disgusts me even more is the tendency of some major bookstores to categorize it as a journal or diary. LAB: The pages are empty, Enid . . . EC: See . . . you're falling into the same trap. In photography, the critic George Baker contends, "Context is everything, the caption counts." You'll note that the most important pages in my book are not empty. The front and back covers, which happen to be written in conventional visible language, give the audience a hint about how to interpret the book's content. Despite the old saying, you can judge a book by its cover. We do it every day. With so many books to choose from, that's one way of narrowing down our choices. We do it when it comes to frozen food, people . . . nearly everything.
	Contrary to the old saying, you can judge a book by its cover.
What is c-a-t-p-r-i-d-e?	Like any other writer, I've given the reader a set of symbols to make sense of. It's the reader's job to construct the meaning. Of course there is something there. Look at the review quotes. Look at the cover. What is this book about? I just make it more difficult for the audience than most contemporary writers. My work is not here to merely entertain an acquiescent audience; instead I'm actively striving to promote new forms of productive spectatorship.
We are also conditioned to accept certain elements in art-- the color green for example. We learn to expect grass will be green, asparagus will be green, and so on. What happens when a green stripe appears on a person's nose? Or a grapefruit is used for a hat? It can be very unsettling at first. I decided to write Silent Susurration after years of introspection and intellectual labor. I suppose it's been brewing since my early days as an art-history student--reading Dada and surrealist poetry. My early group, the Bhau Movement, took an interest in speaking entirely original phrases. So in response to a professor's query about the function of deus ex machina in Greek drama, we might answer: "Bite the running observatory in jasper buttons picnic." Needless to say, we weren't surprised when our professors gave us a final grade of "Q-", rather than the conventional "A", "B", or "C". (Laughter.) Those early experiments led to the inevitable rejection of all known language and the creation of a singular, self-defined alphabetic code. Mine is invisible as well as inaudible. I used this code to create my book. By the way, have you seen my book reviews? It's been called a "mute-iny against lingual oppression" and "an ecstatic celebration of the unstable relations between language and identity."	LAB: I'm intrigued by the popularity of your invisible book signings. Do people believe you're actually going to show up? EC: I don't know . . . In all of my publicity posters, I clearly state that it is an "invisible book signing" meaning that I will not make an appearance to sign books. I suppose people come to get my invisible signature. It's all very amusing. I've been able to videotape many of these invisible book signings from a concealed location. People will actually line up on the street and take turns coming up to the front of the line. Some bring cameras to re-cord, re-envision the event. Usually they're quite well behaved. But to stir up excitement in the past, I've sent in undercover actors to declare that the back of the line is the front of the line. It's like Augusto Boal's invisible theatre, but without the politics. You wouldn't believe the kind of havoc it creates. LAB: What does this tell you about your audience? EC: That they're incredibly imaginative and eager to create for themselves a resolution that can be experienced as real. I provide the place and the circumstances and they do the rest. It's sort of like a revival of the 1960s Happenings. LAB: What do you see in the future of Enid Crow? EC: Ultimately, I'd like to get into invisible filmmaking.
Anti-self portrait #747/Enid Crow as a Perky Breck Girl	photos \| home \| bio \| enidcrow@hotmail.com