Olivia Vander Tuig | Various Small Fires

Olivia Vander Tuig

Various Small Fires

Gothenburg, Sweden: ll'Editions, 2020

3.9 x 5.7 x 1.4 cm.

Edition of 20 signed and numbered copies

"The Zippo™ is the archetypical form of a lighter. It is an object which has obtained pop cultural status, appearing in many films, books and works of art. One such example is Ed Ruscha’s artist’s book Various Small Fires and Milk (self-published, 1964). The book is Ruscha’s second photographically illustrated artist’s book, cataloguing a range of flames and a glass of milk. One of these small fires happens to be (you guessed it) a Zippo lighter.

As with many other small, utilitarian objects with a long lifetime, engraving and personalising Zippo lighters has been around for as long as the lighter itself. From the Zippos bearing testimonials of the terrors of war or the mirage like desires of the American soldiers during the Vietnam war, to Don Draper’s personalised brass zippo in the television series Mad Men; the Zippo is a constant companion – whether it is used for lighting cigarettes or candles.

Olivia’s edition for ll’Editions is a follow-up to a bespoke lighter that was made by the artist for our co-founder, for which the same motif had been requested. After receiving many questions about the lighter, we decided to ask Vander Tuig to make a small edition of 20 lighters for ll’Editions.

The result is in equal parts an homage to Ruscha, with the title of his seminal artist book engraved mimicking its cover, and to the tradition of artist’s books. Every order includes a hand engraved original zippo lighter and comes in an original Zippo box, which has been hand painted, titled and numbered by the artist. Each lighter is engraved with ‘VARIOUS SMALL FIRES’ on the front and ‘AND MILK’ on the back. The sides of the lighter are engraved with ‘LL’EDITIONS’ along with its number in the edition on one side, and the artist’s signature and year on the other."

- publisher's blurb