2011
Laser and hand-cut paper, layered bookboard
As slanders go, the association of the ancient city of Babylon with evil and corruption has lasted a long time. Through the centuries, her name has been used as metaphor for the oppressor, for the dominating power system, and has accrued in certain parlance all manner of negative connotation. But from what we can discern from the historical record, it seems Babylon may not really deserve such a bad reputation.
The Rise and Fall of Babylon is a sculptural pop-up book, in its size and construction referring to the necessarily architectural nature of the birth of the City and the rise of civilization in the Fertile Crescent about six millennia ago. The story is an allegory of the perpetuation of the slander from one ‘culture’ to another, long after Babylon herself, our first integrated empire, has ceased to exist.
