A Higher Cannibalism

The title A Higher Cannibalism is borrowed from Rudyard Kipling, who used the term to describe the process of psychoanalysis. For this project in 2015, Clarke collected over 1000 popular second hand autobiographies that he dissected and altered to make digital prints, etchings, screenprints and collages. The collection and combination of the spines confronted the viewer with a visual registry of role models that shape contemporary Britain society and question the consumption of popular autobiographies in times of austerity. Clarke played with the scale of the book spines to measure the importance of celebrity and who is worthy or unworthy of an autobiography. In his method of appropriation, he treated each autobiography spine equally with paint and printing ink, resulting in monochromatic picture plains that removed hierarchies and status. The first exhibition was perfectly located in the CRATE project space, which was an old print works in the centre of Margate. The project continued at Kusseneers Gallery, Brussels.