Richard Artschwager | Bookends

Richard Artschwager
Bookends
New York City, USA: Brooke Alexander Editions, 1990
17.2 x 16.5 x 10.2 cm
Edition of 50 signed, dated and numbered copies

Formica on wood. Each bookend has a disk in its base with artist's initials, edition size, and year.


"Brooke Alexander: The Bookends came from a specific request from Printed Matter; something that would be appropriate for a bookstore.

Richard Artschwager: They knew that I had made "books" before, so, bookends or endbooks. They have a function.

Brooke Alexander: When you put them on their side - the idea that you can stack them up - turns them into something else. They lose their function and exist only as sculpture.

Richard Artschwager: You want sculpture, you got sculpture.

Brooke Alexander: Or if you want something functional, you've got bookends.

Richard Artschwager: They can live in either domain; in either case it's a book or in neither case it's a book. It's this is book both times."