Elizabeth DeCoste

02 Earthsong Card Catalogue

Written and letterpressed component to Earthsong installation.

“Referencing Western literary history, I write poetics in place of taxonomic nomenclature in my card catalogue in order to inject romanticism and alternative knowledge into categorical and museological tradition. Specific allusions to and rewritings of T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets, Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill, and Langston Hughes' Earth Song reference the Western literary canon. Using the compartments of the letterpress drawer, I place the classification strategies used in archival and museological practices alongside those in language production. The 72 cards each have a poem that references an object in the corresponding compartment of the drawer. Viewers are invited to cross-reference cards to the objects in an interactive platform intentionally mimicking card catalogue archives. To view all cards, click the PDF link above.”