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The Speech Writer / Bani Abidi
Flip books
FA.OSS4.2225
Flip books: 2 x 4.4 in; Case: 11.1 x 9.9 x 0.8 in; Flip books: 5 x 11 cm; Case 28 x 25 x 2 cm
2011
Ten flip books numbered 1-10 housed in a slipcase. Two sequences can be viewed in parallel with the books are flipped. Color illustrations.
"'The Speech Writer' is a fictional documentary presented in the form of ten flip books in a slipcase. The contents follow a day in the life of a retired political speech writer. Surrounded by the memories of his family and his vast collection of speeches, he is a creature of habit, idiosyncratic behaviour and reclusive existence. Retired from a lifetime of public service work, his connection with the outside world takes the form of a daily broadcast from the comfort of his home. Passersby, now accustomed to the perplexing array of loudspeakers wired to the outside of his house, stop to listen for a few moments each day. We cannot hear him speak but witness instead a moment of ultimate freedom in the life of a man who formulated the rhetoric, visions, dreams and declarations of others." -- publisher's note