Book 25  1484/1984 Penn, C and Liebenberg-Barkhuizen, E.  (2009) (Fig 23). 1484/1984. Unique collaborative artist’s book. 17 Double sided A3 Pages. Stab binding. Mixed media including stamps, text, spray paint, drawing, paint.  31cm x 44cm.   Book 25. Collection: Cheryl Penn.

I had been reading 1984 by George Orwell when I met Liebenberg-Barkhuizen.  Re-reading   1984   as an adult made me realize what a difficult and disturbing the book it is.   I remember the novel being a set book in Matric, and at that stage I had, quite frankly, no life experience to help me to understand what Winston (the main character in the book) had to endure, nor did I have any understanding of an entity such as Big Brother.  On pondering the nature of control, I researched a religious system that used to have political, social and religious control, something like Big Brother.

I was surprised to discover that exactly five hundred years earlier, in 1484, Pope Innocent gave power to the Jesuits to begin the Spanish Inquisition where anyone not agreeing with the Catholic view of the world was tortured and put to death.  The similarities between the edicts of  the Catholic System in 1484 and Big Brother in 1984 were frightening.  I made one text of the two proclamations, interchanging words and phrases between the  two texts.

The result was for example; “Innocent O’Brien VIII, memorian bishop, SERVANT OF THE SERVANTS of Oceania and Self, Ad futuram rei Inquisitor and Thought Police of 1984 freely declare and anew this decree by which our pious deeds may be fulfilled…that inquisitors in these regions may exercise their right of inquisition and to proceed to the correction and imprisonment and torture…” (O’Brien being the inquisitor of 1984)

Liebenberg-Barkuizen responded to my book by increasing the presence of Big Brother  by the use of lettering which eventually obliterated my perspective of this issue.  Conceptually that  was the work of Big Brother;  the obliteration of any personal viewpoint, or understanding of life.