The Ifs of Language is a purely textual book; it concerns itself with language and its rupture. In the book’s design there is a good vein of Cubism – insofar as the real –flat plane – is fractured and re-arranged – but with reality playing out somewhere in the background. The Ifs of Language asks if we have the courage to admit what is written is already dust the moment it is written. On the left hand page is the fragment, while on the right hand side is the apology – my original and completed text… as words hustle to get back to their meanings… so the left hand page carries the conversation you half hear and the facing page of this diptych is language’s safe ground. (This kinetic and repetitive rhythm led me to later make a video based on this book).

The title is a steal from William Carlos Williams. At the time I was reading too much Artaud… and I’m still impressed by his: Yes, this is all that language is good for from now on, a means of going mad, eliminating thought, rupturing; a labyrinth of foolishness, not a dictionary…