The Hollow Man

This great consumption to a fever turn'd, And so the world had fits; it joy'd, it mourn'd; And, as men think, that agues physic are, And th' ague being spent, give over care, So thou, sick world, mistak'st thy self to be Well, when alas, thou'rt in a lethargy. - John Donne, 1611 ‘The Hollow Man’ is a book by Bjarne Bare comprised of 46 photographic plates spread over 92 pages in color offset print, consisting of new work predominantly made between 2020 and 2022. Bound in cloth with silver detailing and limited to an edition of 500 copies. Thematically a continuation of the exhibitions ‘Breathing, Together’ (2020) and ‘The Itch’ (2021) the book furthers themes such as our increased miscommunication due to digital rhizomatic models, a nostalgia for the present, the increased velocity of consumerism, and more. It’s title derives from a subject captured at a local piñata factory near the artists home, where an unfinished bodily figure resonated with the sense of hollowness. A sensation of a void which cannot be filled arose. Part of an ongoing body of work, ‘The Hollow Man’ is Bjarne Bare’s sixth printed title, published by Hassla in New York, January 2023.