Obliterati

Destroyed Newspapers

On May 31, 2013 I got the idea to rip up the newspaper.

I hadn't made any art for quite a few months and I had the sudden urge to express myself.

Being a subscriber to the Chicago Tribune for some time, I thought about the hypocritical content that the newspaper feeds its customers... day in and day out...

....supposed to be dynamic, ever changing, always "new," but somehow, I got the feeling I was digesting the same, regurgitated messages.

So I ripped it up. 

It felt good.  It felt right.

I tied it up. 

I bound it up and took pictures of it. 

I got the upper hand.

I took control.

I thought it would be a one shot deal but my curator suggested a series.

It keeps working.  It feels good.  Ever changing.  It feels right....

developing intellectually, like a painting. I will do it for a year!

Take world events, the weather, the letters to the editor and rip them up. 

Shred them.  Transform them. 

Tear up the paper. 

Make your own headlines.

Joe Kotas

Chicago, 6/17/2013