Palpable Mass Artist's Book by Anne Covell

This piece is a semi-finalist for the 2026 MCBA Prize and on view in our gallery August 29 - November 29. "In the first days of the new administration a torrent of executive orders, press briefings, and daily announcements dominated the news cycle. This strategy, known as ‘flooding the zone,’ stoked chaos in order to divert attention from critical issues and push through controversial initiatives unnoticed. Daily disinformation, unhinged posting sprees, outrageous and unjust policies — It felt impossible not to be distracted and exhausted by it all. But it is precisely in these moments that persistence matters most. When feeling overwhelmed is the point, and disengagement is the goal, focus becomes an act of resistance. Palpable Mass is an aggregate of breaking news alerts, headlines, and top stories collected during the first 100 days of the 47th presidency, January 20 – April 29, 2025. Printed on transparency film and stacked in sequence, the overlaid text creates a single illegible mass. As the layers are lifted, each caption comes into view, allowing space to slow down, synthesize information, and see patterns emerge within events. In a flood of news, this work serves as a tool to wade through the muck. Palpable Mass is printed with archival pigment ink on premium Pictorico transparency film with open source Inter type for legibility and similarity to headline fonts. All 76 quotes are cited with links to original source materials in a comprehensive index included in the box." —Anne Covell DIMENSIONS Outer Box: 12.5" x 12.25" x 1.5" (open); 12.5" x 5.25" x 1.5" (closed) Inner Box: 5.25" x 10.5" x .875" (open); 5.25" x 5" x .875" (closed) Inner Sleeve: 5.25" x 10" x .25" (open); 5.25" x 5" x .25" (closed) Edition of 35 2026 *Consignment item. Not eligible for 10% membership discount. All consignment purchases are final and non-refundable once shipped.