Reclaiming Mein Kampf - I AM

Altered Book Project for Marin Museum of Contemporary Art 2015 Altered Book Exhibition & Fundraiser.

Dearest Reader,

I purchased this book at the Chicago Printers Row Lit Fest in 2005. Growing up, I knew this book was filled with hate but I had never read any of it. I decided to purchase it and read it so that I might face, head-on, the language that inspired hate.

One must never forget.

The beginning of the book was somewhat innocuous and spoke of community and a government for all with only pepperings of negative wording. The chapter that shifted the gears was ‘Nation and Race’.

I have used a found poetry technique to change the sentiment of this entire chapter- to turn his own words into something positive.  Included in this book is about fifty hours of coffee shop wordsmithing and painting over vile text.

It was incredibly satisfying to obliterate the ideals of a madman and I sometimes found myself smiling at the outcome.

Tara Evans