John Bock: Maltreated Frigate

This sophisticated artist's book, with custom-cut cover and partially exposed binding, documents John Bock's 2006 action, "Maltreated Frigate"--the height as well as the culmination of this rising German artist's performative work. Here, Bock's vision comes to life in a multitude of color illustrations composed and collaged by the artist. The libretto, printed in its entirety, explodes in linguistic fireworks and tumbles down the printed page, solid in its earthiness and ready to be constructed into a jumble of bizarre and whimsical neologisms--vivid testimony to the artist's zest for expression. "Maltreated Frigate" was performed as a spectacle in 10 scenes, a collision course of rock opera, Theater of the Absurd, animated sculpture and puppet show. This raucous volume invites the reader to accompany the artist and his protagonists along their tour-de-force, stream-of-consciousness action. It is a violent ride on a machine from hell, steered by an idiosyncratic inner logic.