Words are vagrant, deviant creatures. As with life itself, the meaning we assign them is inherently subjective ... dynamic ... changeable ... subject to rules of governance, censure, trend. We define and redefine them. Animate and reanimate them. Trace their etymologies. Link their histories to our own. We rely on words to describe who we are ... what we are ... where we are ... why we are... As a taxidermist prepares the body of a butterfly, pinning it in place so that it appears lifelike -- we are enthralled by the sight of it -- our will is to pin words down, hold them steady ... to be at once preserved and captivated by them...


exerpt from Marlies Dekkers 33 Propositions
(Rotterdam: TDS Publishers, 2003), p. 9.
Edited by Dayne Ogilvie
Designed by Yvo de Ruiter for Studio Dumbar
Photography by Carin Verbruggen