Monsterdom is a short, four-scene tragicomedy that is modeled off the 15th Century text, The Ship of Fools, which highlights the many areas of human folly. The text consists of a constructed dialogue between disparate but familiar characters, including Foucault, Erasmus, Barthes, Bosch, Stendhal, Brant, and Helene Cixous, who have all ended up on the same boat. They speak of folly, madness, exile, love, and, ultimately, death. Included in the book are black and white shadow-theatre images created specifically for the book.
Monsterdom was designed by Erik Wong and printed by robstolk® in Amsterdam. http://www.robstolk.nl

More info: http://www.robinarseneault.com

Robin Arseneault (born in 1975) received her MFA from the Edinburgh College of Art, Scotland (2005), and her BFA from the Alberta College of Art & Design, Canada (1998). She has completed a residency at the Banff Centre and been the recipient of several awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Alberta Heritage. She was a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award in 2008 and a long list Nominee for the Sobey Art Award in 2007. Arseneault has exhibited internationally, including Canada, USA, Scotland, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Iceland. In 2011, she completed a public sculpture commission, Hunting Blind, in conjunction with the Art Gallery of Alberta, and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Much of Arseneault’s work deals with the perception of folly, pathos and failure: the satirical attempt of self-actualization. Examining emotional expression and communication though theatrical endeavors, the end result teeters somewhere between what is humorous and that which humiliates. Her method of production and presentation reveals a certain economy in its making, with slight of hand gestures and often rudimentary design. Her choice of materials further carries out the precariousness and fragility found in her subject matter. Arseneault’s practice includes installation, sculpture and drawing. Arseneault is based in Calgary, Canada.