Battered (2009)

This book has a dual message; on one hand it’s a celebration of British chips but on the other it’s a lament to the declining cod stocks. The book is called Battered to reflect these two sides, both the cooking and the over-fishing. The Atlantic cod is a fish in crisis, stocks have suffered heavily from overfishing on both sides of the Atlantic. All stocks are classified as being overfished or at risk of being harvested unsustainably. The sequence of pages through the book shows images of a packet of chips being eaten, next to an image of slowly disappearing cod. The reverse pages show photographs taken over a number of years in the U.K., Gibraltar and Spain of chip chop advertising boards or 'A' boards. The book is covered in a yellow check PVC tablecloth bound in the style of a Japanese account book - the pages are folded at the leading edge. The book is presented in a white chip shop bag that's been printed with a 2-colour lino of the title of the book. Each book holds within its pages a Mermaid Chip Fork and Miracle Fish. Mermaid Chip Forks kindly provided by Ashwood Timber, Dartford, Kent, U.K. Exhibited at Book Arts, a special exhibition within the Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, 14 June-22 August 2010. Exhibited at 2nd Sheffield Artists' Book Prize Exhibition, Bank Street Arts Gallery, Sheffield, UK,