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Artists create black looks to match page
A BLACK Page, which the 18th century clergyman and novelist Laurence Sterne intended to inform readers of the death of Parson Yorick in his epic book The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, is the inspiration for a new exhibition in North Yorkshire.
This year is the 250th anniversary of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman or rather it is the 250th anniversary of the first two volumes of a book that took eight years and nine volumes before Sterne's self-confessed cock and bull story came to a satisfactory conclusion.
Now 73 artists and writers have been invited to make a new Black Page for an exhibition at Sterne's former home at Shandy Hall, Coxwold, near Thirsk, which is now the headquarters of The Laurence Sterne Trust and a museum.
Harrison Birtwistle, JM Coetzee, Rachel Whiteread, Graham Swift, Hilary Mantel, Lemony Snicket, Frank Cottrell-Boyce, Cornelia Parker, and Lavinia Greenlaw are among contributors who have produced some variations on the theme.
Sterne insisted on correcting every proof of his book so that "it shall go perfect into the world." He oversaw the printing of every volume during his lifetime
Shandy Hall's curator Patrick Wildgust said: "So it can be stated with authority that the page that appears as in Tristram Shandy Volume 1, the Black Page, the page that informs the reader of the death of Parson Yorick, went 'perfect into the World.'
"This page is a remarkable invention. It informs the reader that Parson Yorick has died but no words are used, no passages of grief invite our sympathy – all we see is a black page where the text should be and opposite the blackness, the words 'Alas, poor Yorick'."
Mr Wildgust added: "In subsequent editions this dramatic visual statement was corrupted and 'interpreted' by publishers seemingly unable to cope with the anarchy of a page that contains not text but is simply completely covered in ink. Occasionally the publisher entirely ignores the existence of the Black Page and nothing appears apart from the marker – ''Alas! poor Yorick'."
The exhibition opens on Saturday from 1pm to 4pm when a stone Black Page, sculpted by Peter Coates, will be installed in the churchyard of St Michael's, Coxwold. Rohan Kriwaczek, of the Guild of Funerary Violinists, will perform music. It continues until October 31 and is open 11.30am to 4pm every day except Saturdays. All the contributors' work can be seen on www.blackpage73.blogspot.com
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Sunday 12 February 2012
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