Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Bob & Roberta Smith, We Spy USA, Purgatory Pie Press: New York, 1998



Bob & Roberta Smith is an energetic Brit word artist and this is a hilarious accordion in which the shape of each US state is printed per page and underneath is printed its 'mis-identification' by people in London, UK. Printed in an edition of 100 and still available for $50 from Purgatory Pie Press-PPP Size: 2" (h) x 12' (l)


Ian Hamilton Finlay, Evolution, Wild Hawthorn Press: Little Sparta, Scotland, 1994



At 2" wide and 12" tall this tiny accordion packs a big punch and reflects Finlay's interest in the Revolutionary period in France. This feisty and incorrigible concrete poet and Scotsman died in 2006 leaving behind one of the most unique gardens on that sceptered isle, Little Sparta. Little Sparta Trust website


Finlay's works are still available at very reasonable prices (Evolution is £5/$8) at: Wild Hawthorn Press - Cards Index

Olaf Nicolai, Landschaft: Ansichten nach der Natur, Leipzig, Germany: Jenoptik AG and Edition 931, 1996



Documentation of Nicolai's exhibition "Landschaft/Interieur," at the Galeri Jenotik, Berlin. June/July, 1996.  This perforated strip of color photograhs document the plants and rocks that were featured in this exhibition. 3" (h) x 45" (l)

Erica Van Horn & Simon Cutts, Short-Cuts, Coracle, Tipperary, Ireland, 2008

Smart visual & concrete letterpress word play by these prolific publishing veterans using different regional words to describe the "...narrow passageways between buildings, the short-cuts between houses in a row." [From introduction] 6" (h) x 28" (l).

Peter Pommerer, Gleichversetzt, Stuttgart, Germany: Revolver, 1999.


Two very different sides to this cool accordion, Gleichverstz by Peter Pommerer.
8" (h) x 5' (l)

Tube Maps, London Underground, 2009-2010, UK

Brit 'walk' artist Robert Long's front cover, 2009.
Very smart detournment of underground station names by Barbara Kruger, 2010.

Joydeb and Moyna Chitrakar, Tsunami, Tara Books, India, 2009









A Patua scroll created by the West Bengalese artists, Moyna & Joydeb Chitrakar, about the effects of the 2004 tsunami. This is supposedly the first time one of these indigenous narrative graphic panels has been printed in the form of a book. Traditionally it would be a series of panels stitched together, from which the author/performer shared the pictures and traditional stories, as well as contemporary events. At 5'9" long and 14.5" wide this original accordion silkscreen print is a wonderful object, and a moving response to this horrific event.

This link shows the artists and investigates the tradition that these singing scrolls are a part of: Tsunami (a book by Tara Books) Copies of this book available on the internet for the astonishingly low price of $20.

Benoit Jacques, Seeds of Images/Graines & Images, France, 1992

I really know very little about this artist but this delicate accordion/map is a treat. The text in French and English says, "In the garden where I work, we cultivate images. Sometimes, weather permitting, after a shower of China ink or a storm of colours, drawings and paintings grow."  26" (h) x 19 1/2" (w)


Divination book, British Museum


Panoramic View of the Coronation Procession, Buckingham Palace to Westminster Abbey, London, 28th June, 1838



A very long accordion recording the Coronation of Queen Victoria on June 28th, 1838.

Codex Zouche-Nuttall, Mixtec, 14th century, British Museum