Saturday, March 19, 2016

Helen Douglas and Zoe Irvine, Illiers Combray, Aeolus & Weproductions, 2004, 2nd edition.




The title of this work, Illiers Combray, refers to two French towns, one real and one imagined. "Illiers" was originally the name of a town near the city of Chartres and "Combray" is the name the great French novelist, Marcel Proust, gave it in his semi-biographical novel "In Search of Lost Time," 1913. In 1971, the people of Illiers decided as a tribute to Proust's literary masterpiece, to change the town's name to Illiers-Combray, on the occasion of the first centenary of the author's birth.

This fascinating double-sided accordion was the result of both artists spending time together in Illiers-Combray, and then going their separate ways to work on their respectives parts. One side displays a much more poetic and impressionistic mixing and overlay of images, as compared to the reverse which is a long panoramic photograph of this quaint country village. Irvine's sound pieces also reflect this split, with one cd remixing village sounds and the other a dense and much more abstract web of sound.  

It's taken me a long time to finally discover this accordion by Douglas, and also to fully understand its place and importance in her shift to working with the scroll format. For an interesting summary of this new direction, and a smart piece of writing about her work, here's an article by Clive Phillpot: 
Postscript: ‘The Pond at Deuchar’ E-scroll | Tate

59 pages at 3.75" (h) x 3.5" (w), total length 17ft 2.5".











Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Nina Perkins, Untitled, 2 diamond fold accordions, 2015-16.



Two diamond fold accordions given to me on my birthday and christmas respectively by my daughter and created from paint samples. I guess its hard not to catch the accordion bug when your father is constantly going on about them and has a whole bunch layng around on his desk!

Both the 'pages' of these two are 1.75" square, and the top one is 4ft long and the bottom one 5'6". 

Monday, March 14, 2016

Erik T. Johnson (aka Eero), Kozmo-Knut, two color screen print, 2014

Here's a unique publication, a never ending accordion! I'm still confused exactly where the story begins but its something about an astronaut, a caveman and then things happen and roles get exchanged and then the story starts again. On the inside is a night sky with what looks like the trajectory of the rocket as it speeds across space. Included at the end of these images are 3 from the site that sells this accordion (Uncivilized Books : Kozmo-Knot by Eero) as my copy of the book did not come with this rather interesting packaging.

Each page 2.5" and extended 2' 9.75", circumference 5' 7.5".











Sunday, March 13, 2016

Ik-Joong Kang, Starving Artists' Restaurant Guide, self-published, 1996

Ik-Joong Kang is a Korean born installation artist and a longtime resident of New York. After graduating from the Pratt Institute in 1988 he found a cheap studio in Chinatown and along with a bunch of other artists in the same building they created the Tuesday Lunch Club (TLC) that met once a week for 8 years for cheap meals. This booklet features 14 restaurants that the TLC discovered that provided the best meals for under $4. On the back of the image of each restaurant is a list that includes prices, hours, and a selection of the 'best' meals and their prices, along with a meal that Kang recommended. 

Kang sold the booklet at the Whitney Museum of Art and apparently they sold out almost immediately. Revised versions were published in 1998 and 2000. Interestingly hidden in the credits for the booklet is this one "This book is made possible by my wife's generous donation!" For an article about Kang and his book, and from which I have drawn for this text go to: Food&Drink - Ik-Joong Kang’s Chinatown Restaurant Guide

15 pages double-sided at 3" x 3" and open 3ft 9inches.














Jason Roy, Cop Attack, 2 color risograph print, Brooklyn, 2014



A funky double-sided accordion announcement card for Roy's one-person exhibition at Booklyn Artists Alliance, Brooklyn in 2014, titled "NO: A Masterless Universe".  Each of the 18 pages is .75" x .75" and open 13"