Thursday, October 31, 2019

Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber | Haunted Book







Michael Dumontier and Neil Farber
Haunted Book
Winnipeg, Canada: Self-published, 2019
dimensions vary
Open/varied edition of signed and stamped books

Haunted Books are a series of carefully chosen library discards that they artists have altered with a rubber stamp and sometimes other interventions. The above example has sold, but others are available from the artists directly: https://personalmessageblog.blogspot.com/search/label/haunted%20books?m=0


Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Louise Lawler | Untitled, Black / White










Louise Lawler
Untitled, Black / White
New York City, USA: Self-published, 1978
40 pp., 17.5 x 12.5 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown

In 1979, Louise Lawler, in conjunction with her first solo exhibition, screened the 1951 John Houston film The Misfits at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. She played only the audio of the film, leaving the screen blank for the duration. The work is titled A Movie Will Be Shown Without the Picture.

A year prior she self-published a screenplay without a movie. The slim untitled volume (typically now referred to as Untitled, Black/White) is a screenplay about the death of the Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari, who was convicted of being a spy for Germany during the first World War, and executed by firing squad in France. A portrait of Lawler as Hari appears on the cover of the 'screenplay', which ends with the words ‘A BLACK SCREEN; THE SOUND OF A GUNSHOT’.

The script is by Janelle Reiring, who was working with Lawler at Castelli Gallery at the time, but would co-found Metro Pictures the following year, with Helene Winer. The gallery would represent Lawler's work, as well as Mike Kelley,  Martin Kippenberger, Tony Oursler, Jim Shaw and others. The screenplay wasn't written specifically for the book, though it was also intended to never be filmed, and hasn't ever been.

Lawler told Bruce Hainley of Frieze magazine that an additional part of the enigmatic work was that it was available at unusual locations, "including from the guy who cuts my hair and a diamond dealer."

Untitled, Black / White followed Untitled Red/Blue (released the same year), and borrows the same pricing structure. On the inside front cover it reads "The price of this book is $4.95 or $100. / The price of this work is $4.95 or $100.00. / The price of this copy is encircled. / $4.95 $100.00"

Unlike many "special" or "deluxe" editions of artists' books, these titles were identical, except for the difference in price. When I worked at Art Metropole we had a copy for sale, which was circled "4.95". In pencil on the title page was the item code and the store's price, $100, ironically enough.

In the handwritten card above, Lawler explains (presumably to someone hoping to have her sign the volume) "When I published these books, making the price contingent on which was circled, I was avoiding the artist's signature as value ...although I do sign my work now, it would seem perverse for me to sign it. Best Regards, Louise Lawler."



Tuesday, October 29, 2019

Niki de Saint Phalle














Niki de Saint Phalle was born on this day (as Catherine-Marie-Agnès Fal de Saint Phalle) in 1930.


Monday, October 28, 2019

Halifax Zine Fair



The 20th Annual Halifax Zine Fair is being held this Saturday, November 2, from noon to 5pm at the Halifax North Memorial Public Library (2285 Gottingen Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3K 3B7).

The all-ages event is free and wheelchair accessible.

Sunday, October 27, 2019

Roy Lichtenstein | Kunstlerplatzteller









Roy Lichtenstein
Kunstlerplatzteller
Nuremberg, Germany: Rosenthal China, 1990
31 cm. diameter
Edition of 3000

Hand coloured ceramic plate in presentation box.

Lichtenstein was born on this day in 1923.

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Michael Dumontier, Micah Lexier | Call Ampersand Response



Michael Dumontier, Micah Lexier
Call Ampersand Response
Zurich, Switzerland: Lars Müller, 2019
392 pp., 17 × 24 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown

Originally published by Nieves in 2012, this second, expanded edition includes the entire collaborative project of 196 images exchanged over email between 2011 and 2017. The book is available from the publishers for 40,00 €, here.

Dumontier and Lexier will be speaking about the project at Edition Toronto later this afternoon, and the title will be available at the Type Books table.


Thursday, October 24, 2019

Nothing Else Press at Edition Toronto Art Fair



Join us at the Edition Art Fair tonight, and over the weekend. Roula and I both have work at Art Toronto at the MKG booth but we’ll be downstairs with our Nothing Else Press publications, including works by David Shrigley, Jonathan Monk, Jon Sasaki, Karen Azoulay, Cary Leibowitz, Joy Walker, Mathew Sawyer (above), Vanessa Maltese, Lee Henderson, Aleksandra Mir, Robert Fones, Garry Neill Kennedy, Dean Baldwin, etc. etc.

We’re launching three new works by Micah Lexier, Michael Dumontier & Neil Farber, and Bedwyr Williams. Visit our website for details.

We’re at the front of the fair, next to our good friends Paul @ Wendy Projects and Guy Guy Guy. Come visit us.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Robert Rauschenberg



Robert Rauschenberg was born on this day in 1925.

Friday, October 18, 2019

Gabor Toth | Artists go home



Gabor Toth
Artists go home
Budapest, Hungary: Self-published, nd
12.8 x 6.2 cm.
Edition size unknown

Jirí Valoch | Optical Book




Jirí Valoch
Optical Book
Brescia, Italy: Edizione Amodulo, 1970
[20 pp], 20 x 20 cm., softcover
Edition of 1000

An artists' book featuring a single thin red vertical line in a different location on each spread.

Available for $125 US from The Idea of the Book, here.


Tuesday, October 15, 2019

Cornelius Cardew (1936-1981): A Reader



[Eddie Prévost, Ed]
Cornelius Cardew (1936-1981): A Reader
Harlow, UK: Copula Press, 2008
405 pp., 24 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown



"The English composer Cornelius Cardew [1936-81) was among the most adventurous, controversial and innovative musicians of his generation. After an initial association with Stockhausen and the European avant-garde, he became engaged with the aesthetic ideas of John Cage and the New York School. A leading figure in the experimental music of the 1960s, Cardew is widely acknowledged as a pioneer of indeterminacy, graphic notation, free improvisation and performer involvement. As well as extending the boundaries of music in unprecedented directions, he enquired deeply into its social relevance and meaning. His passionate and untiring quest for wider social significance led him eventually to become a political activist.

In the 1970s he repudiated his earlier experimental work and adopted a more traditional musical language. He joined a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist party and devoted himself to political action, at the same time searching for ways to express his commitment in musical terms.
At the height of his political involvement he died tragically at the age of 45, killed by a hit-and-run driver near his home in East London.

This Reader brings together a diverse collection of Cardew’s major essays and writings from different stages of his career, together with commentaries by other writers associated with his work. It reflects developments, changes and contradictions in his thinking about music from the late 1950s to the end of his life. As a companion volume to John Tilbury’s biography — Corneius Cardew a life unfinished, Copula, 2006 (ISBN 0 9525492 3 9) it provides essential material for the study of Cardew’s life and ideas; it also makes a significant contribution to discussion of the wider issues involved in the relationship between music, ideology and political commitment."
- publisher's blurb

Friday, October 11, 2019

Detroit Art Book Fair



The annual Detroit Art Book Fair takes place this weekend in Detroit's Eastern Market neighborhood. Founded in 2013, the fair brings together "dozens of independent publishers, artists, writers, and collectors to present their books, zines, and prints to the public."

The event takes place on Saturday October 12th from noon to 6pm and Sunday October 13th from noon to 4pm, at 1464 Gratiot Ave. A list of participants is below.



2061.WORLD
826michigan + Detroit Robot Factory
Adult Punk / Sitting Wave
Ariel Smith
Art Metropole
Art problems
AWHRHWAR
Barbed Magazine
Canadian Sportsmanship
Chris Lee
College for Creative Studies, Communication Design
Colour Code
Craig Huckaby
Danielle Aubert
Darkroom Detroit
Enchanting Stranger
Essay'd
Erin K. Schmidt
Flatlands Press
Flint Magazine
Flower Press
Forest Juziuk
Fresh Produce
Hannah Burr Studio
Haute to Death
Hearty Greetings
Issue Press
John Maggie + Niki Williams
Lindsay Farris
LTU Graphic Design
Maamoul Press
Megan Major
Nate Pyper
Not Book Club
Other Forms
Paper Cuts
Pas de vagues
Pitymilk press
Print Cache
Soberscove Press
Teikaut
Temporary Services / Half Letter Press
theretherenow.
time STEREO
Todd Freeman
Wayne State University Press

Thursday, October 10, 2019

Lawrence Weiner | As Often As Not





Lawrence Weiner
As Often As Not
Paris, France: Onestar Press, 2017
30.5 cm diameter
Open edition

A fibreglass dishwasher safe serving tray, available from the publisher, here, for 75 €.

Wednesday, October 9, 2019

This week on Tumblr
















This week on Tumblr: Kitchenware. Works by Lawrence Weiner, Jenny Holzer, Maurizio Cattelan, Cary Leibowitz, Kara Walker, David Shrigley, Roy Lichtenstein, General Idea, Barbara Kruger, etc.