A Humument- Tom Phillips.

Another artist who uses erasure is the British artist Tom Phillips (born in 1937). Phillips is best known for his ongoing project, "A Humument," which he began in 1966 and continues to work on today.

"A Humument" is a book-based artwork that involves the erasure and alteration of an existing book, a Victorian-era novel called "A Human Document" by W.H. Mallock.

Phillips has been working on the project for over 50 years, and in that time, he has transformed the original book into a unique and highly personal work of art. Phillips first marked out certain words and phrases in the original text, creating a new narrative that emerged from the remaining words. He then painted over and around the remaining text, adding new illustrations, designs, and patterns that transformed the book into a visual and literary work of art.

Like Rauschenberg, Phillips's use of erasure is significant because it challenges traditional assumptions and opinions about the nature of artistic creation. By transforming an existing book into a new and unique work of art, Phillips blurs the line between author and reader and asks us to consider how art can be a collaborative and ongoing process.

Phillips made me reflect and think of my life experience as a book and how I could use it to create and narrate art that came from me, from my soul.

Here is one of the pages of the book exhibited at the Royal Academy of Art in 2022

References.

Phillips, T. (2022) 653 - A HUMUMENT P201: ENNUI LOST [Digital print with screenprint | Edition of 50 Unframed: 28 x 21 cm | Framed: 34 x 26 x 2 cm]. Available at: https://se.royalacademy.org.uk/2022/artworks/tom-phillips-ra/653 (Accessed: 2 April 2023).