Thomas Burden
Stoned—The Climber's Bible
leather-bound book, 124 pages / 10" x 6" x 0.75"
During the fall semester I examined the past and future of rock climbing for my grad thesis to rediscover its essential base, lost in Western consumer culture during its peak of importance to existence and to its collapse. Research was based on ethics, history, and technology and led me to notice a base of metaphors connected to religious values and its multitude of negative aspects. The climber’s very own bible pokes fun at human nature and its foolish destruction of life, tapping into aspects of the sport of rock climbing. The best part of life is just being.