Morse Mnemonic, 1990, sandblasted glass, press-type, photostat, dimensions variable.

“In Morse Mnemonic, Brooks presents a diagrammatic image of Morse code above barely readable sayings etched onto panes of glass. The bombastic passages (KINDNESS CONCILIATES YOUTH EXTREMELY QUICKLY. NO DIFFICULTY BAFFLES ZEAL. REMEMBER! LAW PRESERVES FREEDOM) appear authoritatively meaningful, but are just shorthand reminders used by Morse-code senders to remember which collection of dots and dashes belong to which letters. Brooks uses nonsense to deflate the look of legitimacy.”

Excerpt from review of Made, Make, Will Make: A Group Projection, Kathryn Hixson, Arts magazine, January 1991 (Download article here)

“Brooks doesn't always limit his critique of language to English. His Morse Mnemonic takes a look at two lesser-known systems of communication. Six groups of black dots and dashes applied directly to the wall are paired with their English "translations" on glass panels. The panels have been sandblasted and tilted so that the words they bear appear in pale shadows on the wall behind. The phrases include "a wet jacket's comfortable, very!" and "turnips make oxen cheerful." Silly or awkward sentences like these are often the result of mnemonics, a system used to memorize another system—in this case Morse code. Here Brooks shows how little light one system sheds upon another, for we leave the work without any understanding of either. We still can't interpret the dot-dash system because we don't know how it relates to the word phrases.”

Excerpt from review of of solo exhibition at Abel Joseph Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, Lynda Barckert, Chicago Reader, 1 February, 1991 (Download article here)