This Man is Drilling a Well
Terry A. Ratzlaff
Drawing on the parallels between dreaming and collecting, "This Man is Drilling a Well" is a unique book sourced from a single drawer found in horologist Greg Arp's clock shop. The book takes readers on a mesmerizing journey through a constellation of fragmented images that reflect a junk drawer - a fold in spacetime where all ephemera accumulate in disorder. From schematics and patterns to magazine pages, furniture ads, wood grain samples, and photographs, this collection of ephemera, gathered over forty years, weaves together a modern narrative of movement, construction, and fragmentation.
The book takes readers on a mesmerizing journey through a constellation of fragmented images that reflect a junk drawer–a fold in spacetime where all ephemera accumulate in disorder.
In collaboration with Greg, "This Man is Drilling a Well" was conceptualized as a tangential collection of images that are intricately connected to the larger context of "The Marches" - a photographic labyrinth of time, memory, and absence. This work aims to explore how humans grapple with constructing and controlling the experience of time, while delving into the infinite depths of Arp Clock and Wood Shop. With a focus on recycling, reusing, and reappropriating, every piece in this unique collection finds renewed life and purpose.
Experience the world of This Man is Drilling a Well as it invites you to contemplate the interplay between dreams, collections, and the passage of time. Explore the hidden narratives that emerge from the juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated ephemera collected in a single drawer for 40 years.
108 pgs
Full Color/Cyanotype Accordion Structure
L9" x W12" x H.75"
First Edition of 50 + 5 Special (coming soon) + 2 AP
Printed in Lincoln and Howells, Nebraska.
©Terry A. Ratzlaff
www.terryaratzlaff.com
www.basementwindowbooks.com
Published in The Basement Window
August 2023
ISBN : 979-8-3507-1527-9
