Alison Knowles

Gem Duck

Reggio Emilia, Italy: Pari & Dispari Edizioni, 1977

[unpaginated], 22.5 x 16.5 cm., softcover

Edition of 1000

Pari&Dispari was founded by Rosanna Chiessi in 1971 to work with Italian conceptual artists, visual poets, and body-artists. In 1973 she established contact with the Fluxus movement and subsequently worked with Eric Anderson, Ay-O, Philip Corner, Al Hansen,Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Charlotte Moorman, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Ben Patterson, Bob Watts, Emmett Williams and many others affiliated with the group. 

Pari&Dispari produced several works by Alison Knowles, including Cena per otto, La fine dei fagioli, and Moon Bean.

Gem Duck is an artist book that combines xerox imagery with drawing, handwriting, and found typewritten text, all printed in varying densities of brown-gray ink. The book opens with a 19th century glossary of shoe terminology, and features photographs of shoes, shoe parts, heels, and lifts repeatedly xeroxed to produce a decayed image. It includes two accounts from Knowles of green sneakers and a letter from Geoff Hendricks about a dream of shoes.