She's Fallen Down Dead
She’s Fallen Down Dead is a book based on ideas and imagery Eileen explored in the past and reinterpreted into one story. The story opens with a woman waking up dead at the bottom of the stairs. The narrative that follows is of the dead woman and a detective trying to discover the cause of her death. It unfolds as a satirical murder mystery that borrows from Film Noir and contemporary forensics dramas. Playing off these two genres, Eileen comments upon such dark themes as dying before one’s time and having one’s life misunderstood in an humorous context.The front cover illustration, was inspired by a previous broadside, also entitled She’s Fallen Down Dead, that Eileen created for a group exhibition at The Center for Book Arts. The woman lying dead at the bottom of the stairs is Eileen as both the artist’s model and a self-portrait; a concept she previously explored in She’s Dead and her book Angst. The two paged illustrated vignette She’s Dead, the one panel, Deathbed, and two panels, M. Mann were early mail art and zine projects that inspired key themes to the book.
LEFT: Edition of 20 – Handmade Book: handmade, signed and numbered by Eileen Arnow-Levine – 2009, offset lithography, black ink, Cougar Natural Smooth 80 lb. cover, Cougar Natural 70 lb. opaque text, antique thread, PVA glue, Davey’s binding board, Lineco mouselline, Lineco binders tape, kraft paper, linen bookcloth, bronze metallic paper. 5.875” wide x 8.75” high x .125" deep, 32 pages – $70.00
RIGHT: Edition of 200 – Chapbook – 2009, offset lithography, black ink, bordeaux ink, Cougar Natural Smooth 80 lb. cover, Cougar Natural 70 lb. opaque text, staple saddle stitched, 5.5” wide x 8 .5” high x .125" deep, 32 pages – $8.00