Makeup, dirt, text and book-binding tape on fabric
114 x 100 1/2"
The numbering system on the back of 169 Women Catalogued takes
as its model the hand-written Dewey decimal labels ubiqitous in libraries
of my youth. While some form of logic no doubt underlies Melvil Dewey's
system, it's one I never gleened but, instead, memorized for favorite
sections. In my imitation of it, the woman's birthday makes up the bottom
line--8.15.54, in the above image. She was 43 years, 3 months, and 20
days old when I received her face imprints.