Renowned British artist David Shrigley has revealed the inspiration behind his unique art project, “Pulped Fiction,” in which he transformed thousands of used copies of “The Da Vinci Code” into special editions of George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel, “Nineteen Eighty-Four.”
The 55-year-old Shrigley initially conceived the idea for “Pulped Fiction” back in 2017 when he learned that a charity shop in Swansea was overwhelmed with donations of Dan Brown’s popular novel. This news story ignited his imagination, motivating him to acquire as many copies of the bestseller as possible. After amassing 6,000 copies, Shrigley made the bold decision to pulp these novels and republish George Orwell’s 1949 masterpiece, which entered the public domain in 2021.
Explaining his reasoning, Shrigley noted, “I had re-read ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ again recently and realized that George Orwell had died in 1950, so it was coming up to 70 years [in 2020] since his death. This means that all his works are in the public domain, so it means that anyone can publish one of George Orwell’s books.”
Six years after Shrigley embarked on this intriguing project, the pulped editions will be available for purchase starting Saturday, October 28th, at the same Oxfam store in Swansea where the idea was born. Shrigley has produced a total of 1,200 new editions of Orwell’s book, each priced at £495.
Does he like Dan Brown?
When questioned about his choice of Dan Brown’s novel, which also spawned a Hollywood film starring Tom Hanks, Shrigley clarified that “Pulped Fiction” is not intended as a piece of literary criticism. He emphasized that “The Da Vinci Code” and “Nineteen Eighty-Four” presented themselves to him differently and for various reasons. He added, “It’s almost as if the decision to use ‘The Da Vinci Code’ was made for me. It was made by Broadhurst [the Oxfam manager] and the Oxfam shop. It was my decision to make ‘1984,’ as I still think it’s a really important book for people to read.”
Shrigley referred to Phil Broadhurst, the Oxfam employee who, in 2017, urged customers to donate vinyl records instead of more copies of “The Da Vinci Code.”
He also drew a direct parallel between the process of pulping books and the Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s novel, where Winston Smith rewrites historical documents.
Shrigley added, “The narrative of this project is one that sort of happened by accident…But there seem to be so many things that have happened in this project that are strange coincidences.”
One such coincidence involved the book’s designer, whose grandfather proofread the original “Nineteen Eighty-Four,” and whose sister proofread Shrigley’s version.
Shrigley’s new editions are signed and numbered by the artist, with fragments of the original novels still visible on the pages.
In addition to the book release, Shrigley is unveiling a 40-minute documentary that visually narrates the journey of his “six-figure sum” project, detailing the challenges he faced, including the 2020 Covid lockdowns and a fire at the paper mill his studio was using.
