What is interesting about books is that they show how few people understand the true power of the human imagination. The concept of a passport was established over three thousand years ago as a means of permitting Ancient Egyptian citizens to leave port. Since its birth, the passport has been a document that symbolizes how power structures take shape as something as simple as a booklet—a mere artifact of our imagination. In contemporary societies, passports are necessary to identify citizens who travel beyond the man-made borders of foreign countries. This official government booklet can be considered one of the furthest ideas of art, yet it exemplifies how easy it is for people to define one’s imagination of identity, nationality, rights, and restrictions. As one example, the United States passport is a booklet that serves as a symbol of great power and freedom, giving foreign immunity and national protection to its holders. Like any other book, it has a history of social, political, and economic affairs and, without human influence, would otherwise cease to exist. However, this booklet has also served as a symbol of restriction and control, limiting who has access to foreign travel and which countries one may visit.
When reading about artist books and how they serve to deconstruct various power structures in society, the idea to create an artistic and avant garde passport came to mind. Taking inspiration from Johanna Drucker’s explanation of artist books as experimental means of discussing art and politics, I wanted to highlight the creativity passports behold in concept and make concrete in content. Dr. Jessica Pressman’s Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age, which orients readers into the mindset of how books represent and produce identities, complements an analysis of passport booklets as identity documents that create power imbalances. Having a passport in any country comes with its privileges as well as disadvantages, which is what makes this a book worthy of close reading and re-interpretation through an artistic lens.
For thousands of years, versions of passports have been used in civilizations across the world. They took many forms including tablets, letters and identity papers. According to Dave Roos, “the world’s oldest passport is part of the Amarna tablets dating to the 14th century B.C.” issued by King Tushratta of the Mitanni Empire. Many years later, the Roman Empire used tractoria which were issued by the emperor, granting the traveler assistance from the government, not unlike today. In 1215, the Magna Carta “specified that anyone (except criminals) could leave [England] freely,” until 1540 when the Crown began issuing passports once again. When travel to the Americas soared, France and England used identity documents to describe the holders. However, “after Great Britain executed a German spy who had used a British passport while engaged in wartime espionage in 1914, US Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan ordered that all American passports bear photographs of their bearers” (Neumann). In many nations, the wars of the twentieth century—especially, the First World War—made passports a requirement for foreign travel, “in an attempt to curtail the operation of enemy spies” (Freedom: A brief history of the passport). In a different manner, the Russian Civil War sparked the use of Nansen passports that were meant to assist Russian and Armenian refugees. By 1926, Russian and Armenian refugees who could “afford five gold francs” were given a renewable and “valid form of identity,” which could be used to travel beyond borders. That same year, the United States established a standard design, described as “a stiff, dark red cover enclosing a booklet” (Neumann). It was not until 1976 that the cover was a dark blue to celebrate the United States bicentennial year (Roos). Also in 1976, “the Egyptian authorities issued a modern Egyptian passport to Pharaoh Ramses II the Great, the third ruler of the 19th Dynasty,” due to a necessary procedure only available in France to prevent the risk of fungus. The document contains an image of the pharaoh with an unknown date and place of birth. The modern passport looks much like the ones established in the late twentieth century, containing components that both define itself and the bearer.
While each nation has a different passport history, the documents themselves contain customary components that recognize the bearer’s identity as well as freedoms and restrictions. Passports are updated regularly to improve efficiency and effectiveness of the document itself. I’ve already mentioned how the U.S. passport took the form of a booklet in 1926, but it is worth considering what this book contained. Rather than what today’s passports look like, this booklet opened to a formal letter written from the Department of State, along with signatures and descriptions of the holder. Although these attributes prevail in today’s booklets in most countries across the world, there have been new incorporations to strengthen the passport’s potential. The cover of a passport has a gold or silver embossed design with the title of the document (Passport), national symbol, and name of the country. The inside covers address legal and governmental information on rights, regulations, restrictions, and use of a passport document. Incorrectly following guidelines and laws of the country issuing a passport results in serious consequences, which will be discussed later on. A typical passport identity page has the holder’s full name, date and place of birth, as well as the country that issued the document. Modern passports have photos of the bearer to decrease identity theft and wartime espionage. Finally, the bearer’s signature confirms their identity and status in the nation where they received the document. The United States’ Next Generation passport issued since 2021 has improved security to protect the individual’s identity and mitigate counterfeit. Some key components include a “laser engraved black and white photo image […] optically variable feature […] new perforated alphanumeric passport book number throughout [and] multi-layered plastic data page.” Finally, the last few pages are dedicated to travel stamps that identify the date the individual entered and left the named foreign country. Having a passport is crucial for foreign travel as it represents a person’s identity and the country to which they belong. Without a passport, the process of re-entering the country that issued the document is extensive. The freedoms and restrictions of modern passports are what make these books such powerful devices for myriad reasons.
Bearing a passport is a privilege that comes with rights and regulations in regard to the country that issued the document. Perhaps it is easiest to first discuss the freedoms associated with obtaining a passport. Although legalities have changed over the course of several millenia, passports allow citizens to legally travel between different countries. Passports are official identity documents, so they may be used for any form of identity verification. Thus, when having a passport, one is free to travel to specific countries the document and country allows. In addition to this freedom, a traveler has certain foreign immunities. One of the oldest forms of travel protection dates back to “Ancient Greek and Roman governments [which] accorded special status to envoys, and the basic concept has evolved and endured until the present.” Such immunities have been granted to most passport bearers, demonstrating the power of the nation granting them as well as the importance of the individual. The value of a person feeds into their individual identity, which will be discussed further on, and influences certain beliefs that might be fed by lack of education on their rights. With that being said, countries like the United States use their global powers to protect its citizens while abroad. If one were to be imprisoned, it is within the President’s right to demand explanation and determine if the imprisonment is unreasonable. From then on, “the President shall forthwith demand the release of such citizen” by any means within law. Similar processes are conducted when citizens are wrongfully detained or taken hostage in foreign nations, resulting in the safe release of U.S. citizens. Having a passport first enables citizens to travel abroad but also acts as an official government document that verifies the identity of a national. This analysis of passports alone would lead one to believe this book would be one of the most powerful in the world with extensive benefits and protections, but that is not the case. This booklet is a symbol of power as well as the power structures that perpetuate marginalization and capitalization of human lives.
One important question is, who even has the power to decide who receives a passport? Since 1856, it has been the Department of State’s “sole authority to issue passports” to American citizens. Each country has a specific department—whether it be the ICA in Singapore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in China, or DCIC in Uganda—that controls who has access to foreign travel. The history of passports proves that this booklet has been used “as much to restrict the movement of [a country’s] citizens as to police who can enter.” Many nations have abused their powers to restrict foreign and domestic travel of not only foreigners but their own citizens. One reason why governments would want to restrict their own citizens from foreign travel is when a foreign nation’s economy prospers and ideas such as “The American Dream” appeal to those struggling in their own country. Certain countries might not provide as much assistance to professionals of a certain field, enticing citizens to emigrate to where their expertise can thrive. Some countries have or had “restrictions on their people leaving the country” to prevent citizens from moving, taking valuable information and skillsets to other countries. It is not just an issue for those without passports but also those with one since they understand it as an object that symbolizes a version of freedom. Passports are not booklets perceived to cause harm with government control or restriction. Rather, they have a reputation of the government putting power into the hands of its citizens. This power and freedom to travel abroad is not given to just anyone either, it is a privilege to be earned. If one does not meet the requisite criteria to be deemed worthy of this government book, they are not granted freedom or protection in foreign travel.
The people with the privilege to travel beyond national borders have changed throughout history. Similar to how the form of a passport has not remained stagnant, the people with the right to transcend invisible borders have varied. At least in the United States, “before World War I, only single women in the United States could apply for their own passports” since married women ‘belonged’ to their husbands. The same went for children who, rather than having their own passport, their identity and ability to travel was determined by their father’s status. The United States is not the only country that has had restrictions on women and children. In fact, countries in North Africa and West Asia still restrict women from traveling long distances, even within their own country, without a male chaperone. The control of women’s freedom of movement with the use of government policies and documents in many countries demonstrates the prevalent sexism of patriarchal societies. However, sexism is not the only issue. Racism has also been a factor in determining a person’s freedom to travel. Even African Americans, with natural-born citizenship, were denied the right to passports. Before the American Civil War, “Frederick Douglass, the famed abolitionist, was refused a U.S. passport in 1859” as a demonstration of the persistent racism (Roos). Despite reformation programs working to build foundations for former slaves, African Americans were at a severe disadvantage in the social and political discourse. By not having a say in decisions for many years, their ability to partake in political decisions and gain human rights evolved slowly. The lack of autonomy in marginalized groups induced by patriarchal societies is present in passport history. The booklet perpetuates ownership of other beings and ownership of belief systems and values. With a passport comes its history and power, which is traditionally only seen as a form of freedom, but it is much more than that.
The freedoms and restrictions of a person are to suggest their identity. Even though a passport has a page outlining the descriptions of the bearer as their physical identity, its implications also outline the person’s conceptual identity. A similar idea to conceptual identity through passports is bookishness. Dr. Jessica Pressman, in her Bookishness: Loving Books in a Digital Age, expands the topic of developing a relationship with books through a person’s identification with them. She details the definition of each part of this term, discovering that the “’- ishness’ is about identification, even nationalism. It is about subject formation through relationality, about locating and identifying a community of subjects in physical and spatial contexts” (10). Like a work of literature or a digital device, humans connect themselves to bookish objects to create a sense of identity. The exact same process occurs with passports; albeit, the process is more closely tied to the implications of the booklet. A person’s connection with a passport varies depending on the power it holds, similar to how someone appreciates the physical over the digital. A passport from one country holds a different power from the next, just like how a physical book’s presence is more certain than flickers on a screen. For some, a book signifies survival. In Hadas Yaron’s piece, “‘Your Papers or Your Life’: The Significance of Documents in the Life Experiences of African Refugees in Israel,” there is the emphasis that travel documents are sometimes the only way for people to escape carnage. Yaron explains how “the passport can ‘supercede’ the person; be more important and valuable than the human being it represents.” Thus a person’s value to life has less merit than a document permitting them to seek refuge. Not only do passports permit them to leave a particular country or region, but they also “enable and define the refugee’s most basic needs and define their status, legal and social identity in the country.” Every aspect of a person’s survival depends on the legal documents they bear. Every form of conceptual identity is defined by a single booklet. Passports contribute “in building a ‘wall of papers’ against migrants and refugees” (Yaron) who deserve human rights such as the freedom of movement beyond boundaries and basic necessities. Obtaining a passport provides survival for these people, allowing them to emigrate to safer countries that value them as human beings. However, the only reason they are not already valued for their sole humanness is because of the construct of passports.
People place their faith in the strength of a passport as a travel and identifying document, especially from developed nations. Because certain passports, like the ones issued by the United States, are difficult to obtain and have many limitations, it implies they hold more power. The Legal Information Institute on “22 U.S. Code § 212 – Persons entitled to passport” specifies that “No passport shall be granted or issued to or verified for any other persons than citizens of the United States,” which limits this booklet to around 350 million people, only a rough 4.5% of the world’s population. With such limited access, it might appear that the United States passport would be the most valuable in the world, especially given how many immunities the embassy provides. Nonetheless, judging a passport on its accessibility and immunities is not how the Official Passport Index Ranking determines the power of a nation’s international travel document. The Henley Passport Index assesses a passport’s strength by how many countries the bearer can visit with it. For instance, Singapore is the highest ranking country since their passport has valid travel to 193 countries without a visa. That is every country not including Palestine and Vatican City. South Korea is next with 190 countries and Japan with 189. The United States is ranked 11th, permitting citizens to travel to 180 countries without a visa. This official ranking reveals the values of such a book based on the freedom of travel. In other words, the more powerful a passport, the more deconstructed borders become for travelers.
While it seems that a passport is far from creative, it is in fact a work of creativity to convince people to believe in absurd human constructs like borders and a book that determines who can and cannot cross them. The passport in essence is a rule book, specified to one particular bearer. Unlike most modern books, the passport booklet is not printed for commodification purposes. Therefore, there is rarely a case of having two of the same passport. A person may have two valid passports at one time but neither one will be exactly alike considering how often security measures are updated. With that being said, these booklets are set apart from the majority of books printed since industrialization. Bigger industries create bigger audiences create more money with supply and demand. Upon no coincidence, just when passports became requisite travel documents in certain countries, modernists were on the rise with twentieth century art movements. Many artists across the world were pushing against capitalism, creating revolutions and change in political climates, with art alone. One way to combat the commodification of print was to create one-of-a-kind artist books. In her Century for Artist Books, Johanna Drucker understands that the more people attempt to define artist books, the more questions arise. She says the easy definition is to say the artist book “is created as an original work of art, rather than a reproduction of a preexisting work [or, that it] integrates the formal means of its realization and production with its thematic or aesthetic issues” (Drucker 2). But artist books, like passports, do much more than what they’re easily defined as. Along with artist books, post-war art movements “mainstream artworld concern with multiculturalism and identity politics” (Drucker 8). The point of artist books was for creation of order and disorder, and to play with the entanglement of ownership. Is it the person who owns a book or does the book own a person? I found this question interesting in relation to passports. Although we think of people ‘bearing’ or ‘holding’ passports, it is uncommon to consider how the passport ‘holds’ us. With every law, regulation, restriction, freedom, immunity, and identity in passports, how does any of this give control to the bearer? The answer is that the control the bearer has lies in the cumulative power of the passport as it becomes a relationship built in capitalism. Since books, including passports, are a symbol and mechanism of power, destruction, empiricism, and genocide, I wanted to strip away the control a passport has over its bearer.
To combat the power structures, I chose to make a replica passport, not much different from the United States passport, that gives all the power to its bearer. This is paradoxical, however, which is what made this project difficult to accomplish. My goal was to create a passport that focused more on the universality of humankind, rather than the individuality. With the research I have done, it appears that the more we individualize people, the more we dehumanize them. Books have been the main source of dehumanizing people when objects like passports hold more value than a human. This booklet is meant to symbolize how every person has similar attributes that constitute them as a human being, and therefore deserve every natural born right, no matter where they are from, when they were born, and what they look like.
The creative process of building this booklet introduced me to the intricacies of printing presses before industrialization. The first step I took was to use Adobe Illustrator to design the Vitruvian man in a simple geographic grid globe design. I believe this design encapsulates the idea of universal humanity. This design was then transferred to the Design Space platform for Cricut, where I also used a similar passport font to write “UNIVERSAL SYMBOLISIDENTITY,” reflected backwards. After understanding the etymology of the word “passport,” I discovered that the word comes entirely from a combination of the French “passer” (to pass) and “port” (dock). The best way for me to transform this word was to combine the French words “symboliser” (to symbolize) and “identité” (identity), but modernized into “symbolisidentity.” With this design, I used a Cricut machine to cut the outline onto gold vinyl which was heat-pressed onto the navy leather I used for the cover of the booklet. The inside pages consist of relevant quotes, an identity page, and stamp pages. On the inside cover page, there is a brief explanation of the booklet and how it works, requesting: “Treat this document like a body of flesh or textile, one bound and filled by organs of history and life. The book has a heartbeat, and it’s your own.” With this quote, I wanted to refer to how similar humans are to their creations. In tiny booklets, we represent ourselves in many ways demanding our connectedness as humans to books. A quote that traditionally outlines the purpose of a passport is how I wished to convey the idea of bookishness in my artist passport. Beneath this request is a replacement of the information that describes the protections, freedoms, and limitations of a traditional passport. Instead, I have adjusted the topics of these points to fit within bestowing freedom to the bearer. For example, there is no limit to the protections provided to a single individual as every individual holds the same value, despite the booklet they have. Another point relates to taxation of an individual, suggesting the exploitative nature of the government remains separate from the human body.
The next page contains the symbol of the Vitruvian man, who represents the universality of mankind. The Vitruvian man, sketched by Leonardo Da Vinci, proves that all humans fit into a mathematical framework, creating unity between mankind and nature. Above the sketch is a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, and below is the framework for the Universal Simbolisidentities that acknowledges a separation between humans and laws. Although it is faint, the background of this page is Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a 1937 anti-war painting depicting the suffering of man and animals alike during World War II. As one of the renowned artists of the twentieth century, Picasso used his craft to make political statements against power regimes, and restore empathy among readers of all genres. His art suggests that out of all the media we consume, reading each other is something we must strive for. Following this introduction is the identity page, which can pertain to anyone in particular. The image is just a mirror reflection to register the particular reader. However, as they read more than what the mirror tells them, they see how, within one another, is the same person—with a brain, native to our mothers, born during the Anthropocene, of the “humanus” race, residing on Earth. This document never expires because neither does any person’s human identity. In fact, the page to the right pulls a quote from Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, proclaiming that “the body has its rights; and, it will have them: they cannot be trampled on without peril.” By abiding by the rights of our own bodies, we respect ourselves and all creatures. Beyond this page are the stamp/visa pages that lead to a final quote by Johannes Gutenberg that highlights the rebirth of faith and knowledge through the production of books. As the founder of the printing press, Gutenberg understands the power of books as the spread of knowledge, to rid people of ignorance. Yet, it is astonishing to find ourselves nearly six hundred years later, treating humans as less than objects.
Passports are one of the many books of great power. Not only are they a symbol of freedom, but they enable freedoms. Needless to say, they come with consequences such as governmental control over the bearer. Passports are books of a unique kind as they are individual and outline the characteristics of its reader rather than itself. The reader does not necessarily seek new knowledge from a passport but seeks the direct power they provide through ownership. The question of ownership feeds into the cyclical relationship of the bearer and the booklet, otherwise considered bookishness. The booklet defines its bearer’s physical identity and contributes to their conceptual identity as well, strengthening that bookish bond. The creativity at play is the ability for these booklets, plain as they might appear, to convince systems and peoples of their fabricated powers. Through my artist book, I wanted to emphasize the irony of the passport and understand more about how art desempowers structure, routine, and government. My artist book, like many others, is a political statement and a call to action. It demands its readers to reconsider the connection we have to material objects and to evaluate just how similar we are to the person next to us. It is an effort to reframe the way we think of one another; it is no longer about what makes us different but what makes us the same.