Book Arts Newsletter No 121

Sarah Bodman's latest Book Arts Newsletter No 121 can now be downloaded at  http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/newsletters/

The deadline for the next issue is the 17th of November for the December 2018 - January 2019 newsletter.

Jon Sasaki at North American Souvenirs

My favourite booth at the Edition Toronto Art Book Fair this weekend was North American Souvenirs, from Miami/Detroit. Despite producing multiples, North American Souvenirs offered nothing for sale at their booth, but instead provided a phone-charging service for fair vendors and visitors. The device, by Jon Sasaki, above, is made from a car battery, padlocks, binder clips, necklaces, pairs of scissors and other random household items. A video projector presented other examples from his Improvised Travel Adaptors series.

The booth also offered free postcards, fortune cookies and a variety of halloween candy over the weekend.

Operated by Pete Rozek and Hernan Bas, North American Souvenirs host artist residencies and stage "visual arts productions in some of our favorite communities to connect you to neighborhood places and cultural heritage. We offer limited edition souvenirs as keepsakes of our experiences, but hope the places we have toured together will create memories you won’t soon forget." Their programming is based on "long-range government plans, philanthropic institutions’ policy initiatives, and community development objectives."

Visit their website for more information here. And see more of the Improvised Travel Adaptors at Sasaki's site, here.


"We do the boring work so you don’t have to, and try to limit your experiences to what we hope you’ll enjoy as fun, recreational opportunities."

- North American Souvenirs

Dave Dyment | Watching Night of the Living Dead

Dave Dyment
Watching Night of the Living Dead
Winnipeg, Canada: Platform Gallery, 2018
19 x 13.5 x 1.4 cm., 136 min Blu-Ray disc
Edition of 250

A feature length remake of the George Romero original (which debuted fifty years ago this month), in which characters from other films and television shows watch Night of the Living Dead on TV, at the cinema and at drive-ins.

Due to the omission of the copyright symbol on the early prints of the film, the work was never protected by copyright.

The Blu-Ray is available at the Platform booth at the Edition Art Fair this week, and the official launch is Monday October 29th, at the Revue Cinema, where the film will be screened followed by a brief Q&A. There will be door prizes and the concession stand is licensed.

Hito Steyerl | Gosprom

Hito Steyerl
Gosprom
Berlin, Germany: Self-published, 2015
70.0 x 70.0 cm
Edition of 35 signed and numbered copies

A silkscreen in seven colors, on Invercote G 380 g/m2 paper.

Yesterday the Akademie der Künste in Berlin named Steyerl as the winner of the 2019 Käthe Kollwitz Prize. The $13,600 prize recognizes international multimedia artists based in Germany and is accompanied by an exhibition and a publication. Previous recipients include Adrian Piper, Corinne Wasmuht, Douglas Gordon, and Mona Hatoum.

Derek Sullivan | A piece of glass

Derek Sullivan
A piece of glass 
Toronto, Canada: Paul+Wendy Projects, 2018
50" [approx.]
Edition of 100

A glass prism, metal rings, coloured cord, foil stamped die-cut cards. The first 15 copies are signed and numbered and feature metallic gold foil stamp with gold cord, and sell for $250. The remaining 85 are grey foil stamp with blue cord and are available for $75.

"A publication to hang in a window, a bit of wonder when conditions permit."

- Derek Sullivan

Mammalian Diving Reflex | Haircuts by Children

Mammalian Diving Reflex
Haircuts by Children
Toronto, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2018
41 x 27.2 cm.
Edition of 25 signed and numbered copies [+ 5 AP]

The Nothing Else Press is pleased to launch a new photo edition of John Lauener's iconic image of Mammalian Diving Reflex's Haircuts by Children. 

In the event - which the Calgary Herald called “Part performance art, part public service, part therapy” - kids are given the tools to become working hairdressers and the public is invited have their hair cut, by nine and ten year olds. A simple premise, with deep implications. The project tests our trust in the next generation and measures how far we’re willing to go to empower youth.

This print features an image of Coach House Press founder Stan Bevington as he sits for a haircut by a pair of adorable kids. It is available in an edition of 25, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the internationally acclaimed Mammalian Diving Reflex, a research-art atelier dedicated to investigating the social sphere and dismantling barriers between individuals of all ages, cultural, economic and social backgrounds

The work sells for $75.00 and is available this week at the Edition Toronto Art Book Fair, or here.

Josef Albers Wood Puzzle Set

[Josef Albers]
Josef Albers Wood Puzzle Set
New York City, USA: MoMA/Galison, 2018
27.4 x 15.2 x 3.5 cm.
Edition size unknown

A set of six 5 x 3" puzzles, each with 25 pieces, featuring images by Joseph Albers, housed in a wooden box with a silkscreened lid. The paintings reproduced include are all from the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection: Full from Homage to the Square: Ten Works by Josef Albers, 1962; Midnight + Noon V from Midnight and Noon, 1964; Patina from Homage to the Square: Ten Works by Josef Albers, 1962; Wide Light from Homage to the Square: Ten Works by Josef Albers, 1962; Day + Night VIII  from Homage to the Square: Ten Works by Josef Albers, 1962; and Tenuous from Homage to the Square: Ten Works by Josef Albers, 1962.

Available from the Type Books booth at the Edition Art Fair this weekend.

Marcel Dzama | All my very bats....

Marcel Dzama
All my very bats.... 
Toronto, Canada: Paul+Wendy Projects, 2018
3 x 2.5 x 3"
Edition of 30 signed and numbered copies [+ 3 AP]

The 47th edition by Paul + Wendy Projects (and their third with Dzama and second with bats) is a rubber stamp accompanied by a stamped card, numbered and signed by the artist.

The work is available for $200 CDN at Table 38 of the Edition Art Fair, or from their website, here.

Micah Lexier | A Minute Of My Time

Micah Lexier is launching a suite of three ceramic plates at the Art Toronto Fair this weekend. Produced in an edition of 15, the individually numbered plates are sold separately. They are available
at Birch Contemporary, in the solo section of the fair, booth S5, which will present  "Micah Lexier: A Minute of My Time – A Survey and New Works". The solo booth will also be accompanied by a free, 24-page newspaper, featuring two essays about the A Minute of My Time series, written by Ian Thom – one essay written in 1997 and a follow up essay written 21 years later, in 2018.

A Minute of My Time (September 22, 2007 01:14 – 01:15), 2018
ceramic plate, 8.25 inches diameter

A Minute of My Time (September 22, 2007 01:24 – 01:25), 2018
ceramic plate, 8.25 inches diameter

A Minute of My Time (September 22, 2007 01:26 – 01:27), 2018
ceramic plate, 8.25 inches diameter

Tucker Nicols | Vote Them Out

A free downloadable graphic from Tucker Nicols, with the instructions to "Print this PDF and put it wherever you can think of—your front window, your car, your dog. Let’s turn the tide and bring responsible adults back into government."

Available here. 

Jon Sasaki | Something Difficult Done Easily

Jon Sasaki
Something Difficult Done Easily
Toronto, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2018
8.5 x 29 x 8.5 cm.
Edition of 50 signed and numbered copies

The Nothing Else Press is pleased to announce the launch of a new edition by Toronto artist Jon Sasaki.

Typically, building a model ship in a bottle requires hundreds of hours of patient finicky work, inserting tiny parts individually through the neck of a bottle and cementing them into place.
In this multiple, a model ship has been made from superabsorbent polymer, the same material used for novelty "grow in water" dinosaurs. After pushing it into the bottle and filling it with water, the ship will expand approximately 500% in volume.

The work is available for $75 at the Edition Art Book Fair from Thursday to Sunday. Booth number and other fair information to follow. Or reserve a copy by emailing nothingelsepress@rogers.com. 

Jon Sasaki | In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock on the morning

Jon Sasaki
In a real dark night of the soul it is always three o’clock on the morning
Toronto, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2014
9 x 7 x 3 cm
Edition of 50 signed and numbered copies.

Two potatoes wired to power a science toy clock broadcast a distressing message.

Packaged in a clear plastic box, the work includes the altered clock (a wired LCD screen, copper and zinc electrodes), extra nails and an instruction sheet. Potatoes are not included.

“[The buyer] becomes complicit: they have to stab these two potatoes with electrodes and watch the system run itself down. It’s tragedy, but really only tragicomedy. If it were a sentient being it would be tragedy. It’s comedy because it’s just a potato. There’s something heartbreaking and funny about empathizing with an inanimate object.”

- Jon Sasaki, Canadian Art Magazine, Summer 2014

Available at the Edition Art Fair from Thursday to Sunday, where a new edition by Sasaki will also be launched (see following post).

Dean Baldwin | Eel’s Wallet

Dean Baldwin
Eel’s Wallet
Toronto, Canada: Nothing Else Press, 2014
16 x 11 x 3.5 cm (closed) 16 x 21.5 x 2 cm (open)
Edition of 47 signed and numbered copies

A continuation of the artist's many alcohol-themed projects (including bars for Nuit Blanche, the Venice Bienalle, etc., etc.) this eel-skin wallet contains virtually every possible event drink ticket currently in use. Buy one, and wherever you are the drinks are always on the house.


"Named after Dick Higgins' Fluxus-heavy press of the ’60s and ’70s, Something Else Press, this young publisher seemed the only ones present to have produced an entire new line of works especially for the Fair. My favourite? “Eel’s Wallet” by Dean Baldwin, an edition of 47 wallets stuffed full of drinks tickets, which bizarrely becomes some sort of “book” for which we have no name."

- AA Bronson, Time Out Magazine "Five Picks from the London Art Book Fair"

Available from the Nothing Else Press at Edition Toronto this weekend. 

Arman

Arman died on this date in 2005, at the age of 76.

Vancouver Art Book Fair

Some pictures (stolen from Facebook) of the Vancouver Art Book Fair:

Niki De Saint Phalle | Nana au petit chien

Niki De Saint Phalle
Nana au petit chien
1986
Painted polyester
40 x 22 x 30 cm.
Edition of 10

Zoe Keramea | Α - Ω | 0 - 9

Zoe Keramea
Α - Ω | 0 - 9
Athen, Greece: Self-published, 2009
48 x 32 cm.
Edition of 300 copies

Kim Dorland | Same Old Future

Kim Dorland
Same Old Future
Toronto, Canada: Edition Editions, 2017
68 pp., 6.75 × 9", softcover
Edition of 500

Available from the publishers, here, for $40 CDN.

Edition Art Book Fair

The third iteration of the Edition Art Book Fair opens a week today, at the Toronto Convention centre. Organized by Gareth Brown-Jowett, MaryAnn Camilleri and Devan Patel, the fair operates in tandem with Art Toronto, and is dedicated to the promotion of art book publishing in all forms and artworks created in editions.

The Edition Art Book Fair will run from Friday, October 26 to Sunday, October 28, 2018. A full list of exhibitors is below.


Alison Postma (Toronto)
Akin Projects (Toronto)
Anteism (Montreal)
AOK EDITIONS (Brooklyn)
Archive of Modern Conflict (Toronto)
Art Canada Institute (Toronto)
Art Gallery of Ontario (Toronto)
Art Gallery of York University (Toronto)
Art Moi (Winnipeg)
Arts + Letters Press (Toronto)
Blank Cheque Press (Toronto)
C Magazine (Toronto)
Christopher Kardambikis (Alexandria, Virginia)
Critical Distance Centre for Curators (Toronto)
Cross Process (Toronto)
Division Gallery (Montreal / Toronto)
Double Happiness Project (Toronto)
Edna Press (London)
ESPACE art actuel (Montreal)
Esse (Montreal)
Forest City Gallery (London)
Gallery 44 (Toronto)
Gallery TPW (Toronto)
Gendai Gallery (Toronto)
guy guy guy (Toronto)
Hannah Burr (Ann Arbor)
Hektor Projects (Toronto)
HOMOCATS (Brooklyn)
Jade Zhang (Toronto)
Jessica Thalmann + Ryan Van Der Hout (Toronto)
Lunchroom (Toronto)
Mad Mohre (Adrian)
Magenta Foundation (Toronto)
McIntosh Gallery (London)
Ness Lee (Toronto)
N. American Souvenirs (Miami)
Nothing Else Press (Toronto)
NUT (Brooklyn)
OHKE Time (Toronto)
Overlapse (London, UK)
Paul + Wendy Projects (Toronto)
Peripheral Review (Guelph)
Platform (Winnipeg)
Prefix Photo (Toronto)
Raw Meat Collective (New York)
Ryerson (Toronto)
Shortt Editions (Muncie)
Stephen Bulger Gallery (Toronto)
Successful Press (Toronto)
The Experimental Typographic Project (Montreal)
The Roundtable Residency (Toronto)
Troy Gronsdahl (Saskatoon)
Type Books (Toronto)
UPON Prints (New York)
Vide Press (Toronto)
Weekender Supply (Toronto)
Wil Aballe Art Projects | WAAP (Vancouver)
Agnes Wong (Toronto)


Location:

Metro Toronto Convention Centre
North Building, Street Level
255 Front St W
Toronto ON M5V 2W6

Dates & Times:

October 25, 2018 6–10pm
October 26, 2018 12–8pm
October 27, 2018 12–8pm
October 28, 2018 12–6pm

This week on Tumblr: Neon

Sophie Calle | Souris Calle

“When you say you’re sad about [a dead] cat, it’s a bit obscene for people," Sophie Calle recently told ArtNet. "You can’t say that. I mean, if I say my mother or my father is dead, everyone tells me ‘Oh, poor thing, she lost her mother, oh, poor thing, she lost her father,’ but if we say that about our cat, we seem ridiculous. It makes me laugh, when for me, in my daily life, it was almost more violent, because I lived with my cat. I didn’t live with my parents.”

Calle is talking about a forthcoming 3 LP set that pays tribute to her dead pet, with contributions by Pharrell Williams, the National, Bono, Michael Stipe, Laurie Anderson, Jarvis Cocker, Pascal Comelade and many others.

Titled Souris Calle, the 37 tracks of the tribute were first debuted during Calle’s solo show at Galerie Perrotin in Paris, which opened on Saturday. Visitors to the exhibition can both hear the music and watch videos Calle sent to the musicians for inspiration, along with accompanying texts and photographs.

The album is now available to order in a standard 3xLP edition for 100 Euro, and a deluxe, signed and numbered version for the considerably higher price of 1500 Euro, here.

Mel Ramos

Mel Ramos
Candy
New York City, USA: The Letter Edged in Black Press, 1968
27.6 x 17.6 cm.
Edition of 2000

One of Ramos' best known works is a series of paintings of nude women emerging from candy wrappers (Snickers, Oh Henry, Butterfinger, etc). This cardboard cut-out piece, from SMS #5, could therefore be seen as an instructional, three dimensional Pop Art sculpture.

The instructions are as follows:

1. Cut out candy wrapper and figures with single edge razor blade
2. Cut slots a,b,c,d,e. Fold on dotted lines and insert tabs.
3. Paste back of Fig. A to back of Fig. B. Place figure in wrapper and stand on end.


Ramos died of a heart attack Sunday, at the age of 83.

Watching Night of the Living Dead

A screening and Blu-Ray release party for my film Watching Night of the Living Dead takes place two weeks from tonight, at the Revue Cinema. Details to follow. 

Admission is free, but tickets can be reserved here:

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/free-screening-watching-night-of-the-living-dead-tickets-51305253394