Ed Ruscha, Mason Williams, Patrick Blackwell
Royal Road Test
Los Angeles, USA: Los Angeles, 1967
[60] pp., 24 x 16 cm., spiral bound
Edition of 1000
At 5:07 pm on Sunday August 21st, 1966, Mason Williams hurled a Royal 10 typewriter from the passenger window of a 1963, driven by his friend Ed Ruscha. Patrick Blackwell - who once shared a studio with Ruscha - came along to take photographs.
Unlike the artist’s earlier bookworks - which were dispassionate, almost vernacular photographs of parking lots, gas stations and apartments - this project takes an almost forensic look at the aftermath of an action-based work.
The cover of the book reproduces the distinctive logo of the brand. The Royal Typewriter Company produced the Royal 10 from 1914 until 1940. The popular machine was known for its versatility, durability and beautiful round keys. The model recently appeared in a Taylor Swift music video [see below], renewing interest in the Royal 10.
Royal Road Test was produced in an second edition of 1000 copies in 1969, a third edition of 2000 copies in 1971, and a fourth edition of 1500 copies in 1980.
"In Ed Ruscha’s 1967 artist’s book Royal Road Test, language hits the highway. Through photos that resemble crime scene evidence, it documents the aftermath of defenestrating a typewriter from a moving Buick, a caper that synthesized two of the artist’s enduring preoccupations—words and roads.”
- Lisa Turvey, Artforum
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