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  RC Baker art and writing 
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The prints for the President: “Why?” series (2010–2018; murals ongoing) were derived from postage-stamp-size advertisements for mass-market posters — peace signs, anti-war slogans, environmental emblems — cut out of coarsely printed comic books published in the early 1970s. Striking formal qualities emerged when these crude reproductions were enlarged up to 2000% on a dying laser proofer and then sequentially copied up to 150 times. This method amplified the expected degradation of an image that normally occurs during each step (or “generation”) of the mechanical reproduction process, hence I call these serendipitous distortions "degeneration" prints. 

Throughout the President: "Why?" animation the 3,500-plus tabloid-size “degeneration prints” traverse the ineffable border between figure and abstraction in a rhythmic flow of saturated color and riotous form — a metaphor for the formal and narrative collision between the protagonists’ brutal, realpolitik poetry and the battered but resilient ideals of the Sixties.

The degeneration prints have also been exhibited as site specific murals. 
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There are 30 sets of degeneration prints in the President: "Why?" series. Each set consists of approximately 120 prints, with an edition of three prints made from each original. Additionally, the sets were conceived as diptychs, and starting with sets 3 and 4 ("Cosmos Being" and "Peace Fingers"), the pairs were made in tandem. 

The prints are presented below with their diptych match from the succeeding run.
(Note that there are approximately 1775 pairs, which are being posted as life allows.)
Click on an image to see the diptychs uploaded so far. 

01B_Love Peace-w-02A_First Day Finger
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​02B_First Day Finger-w-03A_Cosmos Being
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​03B_Cosmos Being-w-04A_Peace Fingers
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​04B_Peace Fingers-w-05A_Woodstock
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​05B_Woodstock-with-06A_Love Beagle
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​06B_Love Beagle-w-07A_Sunshine Landscape
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​07B_Sunshine Landscape-w-08A_Pollution Mask
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08B_Pollution Mask-w-9A_Flower Love
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​09B_Flower Love-w-10A_Scorpio
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​10B_Scorpio-w-11A_War Not For Children
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​11B_War Not For Children-w-12A_Feeling Groovy
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12B_Feeling Groovy-w-13A_Love A Hippy
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​13B_Love a Hippy-w-14A_One Million
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14B_One Million-w-15A_Couple

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​15B_Couple-w-16A_Surreal Landscape
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16B_Surreal Landscape_1833-w-17A_Suppose Peace
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17B_Suppose Peace-w-18A_Pollution Skull
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​18B_Pollution Skull-w-19A_Love Flower
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19B_Love Flower-w-20A_War Not For People-
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​20B_War Not For People-w-21A_Smile
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21B_Smile-w-22A_Do It
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​22B_Do It-w-23A_Who Needs You
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​23B_Who Needs You-w-24A_Ling Ling
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24B_Ling Ling-w-25A_Stone Ripoff
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25B_Stone Ripoff-w-26A_Black Beautiful
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26B_Black Beautiful-w-27A_Harley Tuff
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​27B_Harley Tuff-w-28A_Kiss Me
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​28B_Kiss Me-w-29A_Repent Skull
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29B_Repent Skull-w-30A_First Day of Life
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30B_First Day of Life-w-01A_Peace Love
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