Fred Sandback | Ten Isometric Drawings for Ten Vertical Constructions

Fred Sandback
Ten Isometric Drawings for Ten Vertical Constructions
New York City, USA: Lapp Princess, 1977.
[24] pp., 15.3 x 15.3 cm, staple-bound
Edition of 2000

A six-inch squared booklet featuring ten diagrams and no text, the title is the first in a series of uniform-sized publications produced by the Lapp Princess Press. The Press was founded by writer and art critic Amy Baker, who later would marry Sandback, and become the executive publisher of Artforum. Lapp Princess’s goal was to create artists’ books that could be purchased by the widest possible audience, insisting on large edition sizes and affordable prices. Under Baker’s directorship twelve titles were issued and the press continued on without her, producing other booklets in the six-inch squared format, as well as other dimensions.

Sandback's title was followed by Victor Burgin’s Family, Lines and Non-Lines by Edda Renouf, Drawings June and July 1977 by Jackie Ferrara,  Unwritten by David Shapiro/Lucio Pozzi, Project Entitled 'The Beginnings of a Complex...' by Alice Aycock, Studies by Ralph Humphrey, Inches and Field by Sylvia Plimack Mangold, Parete by Marco Gastini, Drawings While Waiting for an Idea by James Rosenquist, Six Arcs by Robert Mangold, and Keith/Six Drawings/1979 by Chuck Close.

A 2003 reprint is available for $12.00 from Diabooks, here. The original can be found at Amazon, here, for $85.00.

This Week on Tumblr

This week on Tumblr: The Lapp Princess Press.

http://artistsbooksandmultiples.tumblr.com/tagged/lapp-princess-press

Fred Sandback | Ten Isometric Drawings for Ten Vertical Constructions

Fred Sandback
Ten Isometric Drawings for Ten Vertical Constructions
New York City, USA: Lapp Princess, 1977.
[24] pp., 15.3 x 15.3 cm, staple-bound
Edition of 2000

Writer and art critic Amy Baker founded Lapp Princess Press in 1977 with the goal to create artists' books that could be purchased by the widest possible audience. Works were published in editions of 2,000 and sold for $3 each. Other than the uniform format (6 inches square), artists were given complete freedom in terms of the content. Sandback, who would later marry Baker, was the first artist invited. Eleven others followed between the years of 1977 and 1979, until Baker left to become executive publisher of Artforum. Other artists include David Shapiro, Chuck Close, Victor Burgin and Alice Aycock.

Fred Sandback | A Children's Guide to Seeing

Fred Sandback
A Children's Guide to Seeing 
Houston, USA: Contemporary Arts Museum, 1989
12 pp., 8 colour images, b+w images,
Edition size unknown

Produced for the 1989 exhibition Fred Sandback: Sculpture at the Houston Contemporary Arts Museum, this booklet includes a text written by the artist (see below) in German, French and Spanish, along with a step-by-step guide to playing Cat's Cradle and a piece of knitting yarn. It was reprinted in 2009 by the Fred Sandback Archive.



1989 Children’s Guide to Seeing 

We all need a place for play, whether it’s jump rope, baseball, or making a sculpture. I’m lucky enough to have the whole Contemporary Arts Museum in which to build my sculptures that are made out of knitting yarn.

I need a big space like this because I mean my sculptures to take space and make it into a place—a place that people will move around in and be in.

Knitting yarn is great for making the proportions, intervals, and shapes that build the places I want to see and to be in. It’s like a box of colored pencils, only I can use it to make a three-dimensional sculpture instead of making a drawing on paper.

My knitting-yarn sculpture is a somewhat distant cousin to some other string games. Maybe the one that uses the most space is kite flying. But the one that is the oldest, and the most universal, is cat’s cradle. Indians, Eskimos, Bushmen, and many other cultures around the world have had games like cat’s cradle since before anyone can remember.

Often cat’s cradle is about making a little place—just for yourself, or to share with someone. If you don’t know any of the moves, you can probably learn some from a friend, a relative, or from your mom or dad, if they remember them.

If you ask the attendant here in the Museum now, he or she will give you some yarn to use while you are here and to take home. Your fingers might do some thinking while you wander around and look at my sculptures.

And here are a few cat’s cradle ideas.

Cat’s cradle is nice because you can put it in your pocket when you’re busy with something else, and take it out again when you’re not. Although, as you can see, it’s not so hard to build big things like my sculpture. All it takes is a ball of string. If you were feeling a little adventurous, you could even wrap up your whole house.

Fred Sandback | Blue Day-glo Corner Piece

Fred Sandback
Blue Day-glo Corner Piece
New York City, USA: Multiples, Inc., 1968
35.6 x 30.5 x 15.2 cm.
Elastic cord and spring steel
Edition of 25