Happy Birthday to Paul Van Kooy

 

Happy Birthday to Paul Van Kooy, of Paul+Wendy Projects. 

Lucy Lippard | Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object

Lucy Lippard

Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object

London, UK: Studio Vista, 1973. 

272 pp., 22 x 18.5 cm., hardcover

Edition size unknown

It’s difficult to measure the impact of Lucy R. Lippard’s groundbreaking 1973 book, whose full title is eighty-eight words long: 

Six Years: The dematerialization of the art object from 1966 to 1972: a cross-reference book of information on some esthetic boundaries: consisting of a bibliography into which are inserted a fragmented text, art works, documents, interviews, and symposia, arranged chronologically and focused on so-called conceptual or information or idea art with mentions of such vaguely designated areas as minimal, antiform, systems, earth, or process art, occurring now in the Americas, Europe, England, Australia, and Asia (with occasional political overtones), edited and annotated by Lucy R. Lippard.

Now over fifty years old, the volume helped cement the legacy of conceptual art, which Lippard defines as "work in which the idea is paramount and the material form is secondary, lightweight, ephemeral, cheap, unpretentious and/or ‘dematerialized.’"

Artists featured in the book include Vito Acconci, Bas Jan Ader, Eleanor Antin, Joseph Beuys, Mel Bochner (who wrote a negative review of it in Art Forum: "To document the history of six years of extremely active and possibly radical art requires a sense of responsibility to the spirit of the art itself. The bibliographic processes must be systematic, clear, informed, and consistent within the chosen theoretical framework. Lippard’s book does not satisfy these criteria.”), Daniel Buren, Hannah Darboven, Marcel Duchamp, Dan Graham, Hans Haacke, On Kawara, Les Levine, Sol Lewitt, Lee Lozano, Ursula Meyer, Bruce Nauman, The N.E. Thing Co., Yoko Ono, Adrian Piper, Robert Ryman (who Lippard was married to for six years), Michael Snow, Jeff Wall, Lawrence Weiner and many others. 

As the title Six Years suggests, the book is presented as a timeline, with key moments in the development of the genre appearing as titles, with supporting documents such as contemporaneous letters, interviews, and reviews. Lippard quotes herself liberally, mistrusting memory and privileging her own first-hand accounts over hindsight. For example, the timeline includes the publication date of her essay The Dematerialization of the Art Object (written with John Chandler in the Fall of 1967, and published in February of 1968):

"During the 1960s, the anti-intellectual, emotional/intuitive processes of art-making characteristic of the last two decades have begun to give way to an ultra-conceptual art that emphasizes the thinking process almost exclusively... The studio is again becoming a study. Such a trend appears to be provoking a profound dematerialisation of art, especially of art as object, and if it continues to prevail, it may result in the object's becoming wholly obsolete."

The essay, and the book it inspired has become an essential historical survey and reference book for sixties art and conceptualism in particular. 

"At age eighteen I discovered a book called Six Years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object by Lucy Lippard. To me this book reconfirmed that a concept can be equally as beautiful as its aesthetics. I was so excited that I read it too quickly, not fully appreciating its content, and had to read it again. Following a Christmas tradition, my grandmother would ask my mother to buy a present for her to give to me on Christmas morning. My Mum later passed the task to me, so I bought a reissue of Six Years, which my grandmother then gave back to me on Christmas morning. I acted surprised, as promised, when unwrapping it. “Thank you, Grandma. A book on the dematerialization of the art object, just what I always wanted.” She wrote a note on the inside front cover, and I treasure it over all other books [see below]. Six Years made me realize that art and design were no longer disciplines that were motivated purely by aesthetics. I wanted to relate Lippard’s ideas of dematerialization to graphic design, exploring objectivity, systems, and concepts, and remove as many aesthetic decisions from the design process as possible. I asked myself whether graphic design can be dematerialized, or whether the graphic can be informed by a concept.”

- Daniel Eatock

Daniel Eatock | Back to Front (Greeting Card Sculpture)

Daniel Eatock 

Back to Front (Greeting Card Sculpture)

Toronto, Canada: Paul + Wendy Projects, 2022

4 x 6"

Edition of 100

The 67th edition by Paul + Wendy Projects is a greeting card sculpture by Daniel Eatock consisting of folded matte paper with a gloss laminated exterior, in an envelope. 

The work is available for $20 CDN at their website, here, or this weekend at their booth at the Toronto International Art Fair (below). 

"Stand upright on a flat surface, open at a 45-degree angle. The back of the greeting card is rendered as 'hidden lines visible' on the front of the greeting card."

- Daniel Eatock

Daniel Eatock
Daniel Eatock: Pens Paper
Melbourne, Australia: Formist Editions, 2016
304 pp., 15 × 21.5 cm., hardcover
Edition of 1000


A Swiss-bound book with exposed stitching that features numerous images of Eatock's self-generating felt-tip marker works and an essay by Cranbrook Art Museum director Andrew Blauvelt.

"British artist and designer Daniel Eatock creates concept-driven pieces that explore the recording of actions. Over the past two decades, he has repurposed the conventional tools of graphic design – coloured felt-tip pens and white paper – to produce his most distinctive work.

Working compulsively in series, Eatock either rests inverted pens on stacks of paper or places paper on the nibs of upright pens, leaving time and chance to make their marks. Surprisingly, these straightforward, mechanical steps produce abstract, organic sequences that range from bright dots to bleeding pools of intense colour.

In a sense, this experimental work is self-producing. By devising set-ups that systematically make art, Eatock retains control over the execution, but relinquishes control of the outcome – faithfully observing his manifesto’s directives to “embrace chance” and “trust the process”. This action-based approach is also evident in his instruction of the participants who collaborated to create his circle drawings."

- press release

Daniel Eatock

Daniel Eatock
Daniel Eatock
Draw Down Books, 2017
32 pp., 6.5 x 9.35", staple-bound
Edition size unknown

Daniel Eatock's new eponymously titled zine presents a selection of the artist's photographs of two-tone repaired cars. The work draws a connection between automotive repair, art conservation and the Japanese art of kintsugi, which treats breakage and repair in pottery as part of the history of the object, rather than something to disguise.

Eatock's photographs feature cars where a part from an identical model - but different colour - has been used as a replacement, and the owner has forgone the final stage of a repaint. The collection presents the thrifty practice as a considered aesthetic decision, where the different coloured door or hood becomes a distinguishing feature.

I saw a yellow car with a black door just last night and thought to myself that if my car required a replacement door I would probably not bother with the paint job, assuming the results looked as good as these (or as the similar Simon Starling Fiat project here).

The zine is priced at $15.00 but available this weekend for $10 at Printed Matter's LA Art Book Fair (Booth G–18), or by using the code LAABF at the Draw Down website, here.

This Week On Tumblr

This week on Tumblr: British artist and designer Daniel Eatock. 

http://artistsbooksandmultiples.tumblr.com/tagged/Daniel-Eatock

Daniel Eatock | Spray Can Sprayed With Its Own Contents

Daniel Eatock
Spray Can Sprayed With Its Own Contents
Toronto, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2016
22 x 8 x 8 cm. (boxed)
Edition of 18 numbered copies

An editioned version of a 2010 work by acclaimed London-based artist and designer Daniel Eatock. The entire contents of a can of spray paint is emptied into the oncoming air stream of a desktop fan. The paint exits the aerosol and is redirected back towards itself, evenly covering the canister in the paint it previously held, rendering it an icon of itself. Each are unique, with the edition size determined by the availability of colours from a common brand of spray paint.

The boxed work, with accompanying polaroid, is available for $150 CDN each, here. Each are unique, with the edition size determined by the availability of colours from a standard/popular brand of spray paint. Colours include Gold, Silver, Florida Orange, Forest Green, RV White,  etc. etc.

The edition debuts in DIY, an exhibition which opens at MKG127 tomorrow (July 9th), from 2 to 5 pm. The show also features work by Dean Baldwin (Montreal), Bill Burns (Toronto), Instant Coffee (Vancouver), Liam Crockard (Toronto), Michael Dumontier (Winnipeg), Juliane Foronda (Toronto), Kristiina Lahde (Toronto), Roula Partheniou (Toronto), Joe Scanlan (New York City) and VSVSVS (Toronto).

DIY opens this Saturday

In 2010, MKG127 began a series of artist-curated summer shows with A-B by Micah Lexier. Group exhibitions by Hugh Scott-Douglas, Germaine Koh and Dean Baldwin followed. This Saturday a show that I organized opens from 2 to 5 pm.

DIY collects the work of nine artists and two collectives whose work refers to, or employs the spirit of "do-it-yourself”. The exhibition includes both new and existing works by Dean Baldwin (Montreal), Bill Burns (Toronto), Instant Coffee (Vancouver), Liam Crockard (Toronto), Michael Dumontier (Winnipeg) , Daniel Eatock (London, UK), Juliane Foronda (Toronto), Kristiina Lahde (Toronto), Roula Partheniou (Toronto), Joe Scanlan (New York City) and VSVSVS (Toronto).



"In Britain, the term DIY is synonymous with home repair. Elsewhere it carries more go-it-alone connotations. The term is over a hundred years old, came into common usage in the 1950s, and defined a subculture twenty years later. Today it’s ubiquitous as both an ethos and a marketing brand, from Ikea to Etsy to Martha Stewart-style Pinterest pages. DIY features fetishized tools of the trade, as well as examples of do-it-yourself projects: from makeshift speakers and skateparks to some-assembly-required coffee, prisons and funerals."

- press release

The exhibition continues until August 20, at MKG127, which is located in Toronto at 1445 Dundas St. West between Dufferin St. and Gladstone Ave. on the south side. Hours are Wednesday to Saturday from 12 to 6 PM or by appointment. For more information call 647-435-7682

(image: Joe Scanlan)

Jeremy Cooper | The Postcard is a Public Work of Art

Jeremy Cooper
The Postcard is a Public Work of Art
London, UK: X Marks the Bökship, 2014
Edition of 300 numbered copies


Increasingly becoming the world's leading expert on artists' postcards, Jeremy Cooper (whose 2012 book Artists' Postcards: 
A Compendium can be viewed here) compiled and catalogued this collection of sixty postcards by contemporary artists. The book serves as a catalogue to the exhibition of the same name, which ran at X Marks the Bökship, from the 23rd of January to the 1st March, 2014. The title ‘The Postcard is a Public Work of Art’ is taken from a 1996 postcard designed by Simon Cutts and printed by David Bellingham.

The bulk of the reproduced cards were made for the exhibition, which includes work by Bellingham, Cutts, Ruth Claxton, Daniel Eatock, Ruth Ewan and Dan Griffiths, Ryan Gander, Susan Hiller, Georgie Hopton, Sara MacKillop, Elizabeth Magill, Imi Maufe, Hansjörg Mayer, Elizabeth McAlpine, Ingrid Berthon-Moine, Jonathan Monk, Molly Rooke, Colin Sackett, Sarah Staton, Holly Stevenson, Peter Sylveire, Erica Van Horn, and many others.

An interview with Cooper can be viewed at Postcardese, here.

Daniel Eatock

Four works by British artist Daniel Eatock:










One Pin Notice

Spray Can Sprayed With Its Own Contents

Felt Tip Print

Return to Send


One Pin Notice (signed and numbered) is available here for $50.

The artist's website is here.