ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa

Scope and Contents Richard Minsky burnt a paperback copy of The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie and enclosed it within a reliquary he created using photoshop and an Epson inkjet printer to print on paper. Minsky used classical Islamic designs from "The Grammar of Ornament" by Owen Jones. The interlaced patterns relate to Islamic fundamentalism and the opened design spaces were incorporated by Minsky. Also included are two special stained glass windows on either side of the reliquary, through which the burnt book can be seen. Therefore the work becomes untouchable and is martyred like a saint. The first amendment relates to respecting the rights of religions, freedom of the press, the right of peaceful assembling and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. As Minsky noted on his WEB site, upon publication the author lost the freedoms of Press, Religion, Speech and Assembly in some countries. The Fatwah issued on Rushdie, and the...

Scope and Contents Richard Minsky bound a copy of The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson with a black leather, left handed glove stained red to resemble blood on the fingertips. The first and last pages contain an illustration of Simpson putting on the glove at his trial. The defense played this as a "race card" that Minsky designed to fit the slogan" If the glove doesn't fit, you must acquit." The Sixth Amendment states, "In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed..."Minsky notes that his was the most public trial in history, with many questions about the jury, witnesses and defense counsel. It occupied the television networks day and night. Before the trial began, the author wrote in The New Yorker that the defense would play the "race card" and claim Mark Fuhrman was a racist who...

Scope and Contents The tenth amendment states, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people." Minsky's website describes his work, USSC No. 00-949, as "the decision of the Supreme Court in the landmark case that determined the outcome of the 2000 election, Bush vs. Gore. This ruling, overturning a decision of the Florida Supreme Court, is arguably the most significant Federal intervention in states' rights in modern history." The texts used were of the Justices' concurring and dissenting opinions issued on the Supreme Court website on December 12, 2000. Minsky has intentionally reversed the black and red labels on the spine of the book and printed the title slightly unevenly so that the classic law book seems "disturbing and somewhat crooked."According to an interview of Richard Minsky by Bob Andelman on http://vimeo.com/36516102, only nine copies of this book object were produced even...

Scope and Contents The third amendment states, "No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law." The book is a copy of Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and is accompanied by a DVD of the movie in an attache case with a handcuff attached. According to Minsky's web-site, "The third amendment set a clear boundary on military authority. In this classic story the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is seeking to quarter himself in the White House."As Minsky notes, "Seven Days in May" by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey, with a DVD of the film starring Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas, directed by John Frankenheimer, screenplay by Rod Serling is pertinent to this amendment. The Third Amendment sets a clear boundary on military authority. In this classic story the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is...