Jeanne Canto, Thirds, MRKC Club, 2017

A curious little accordion featuring facades of buildings in France, Italy, Germany and Switzerland with all the compositions inspired by the 'rules of thirds' in photography. I went to art school and studied photography years ago, and was never introduced to this compositional strategy - well, at least I have no memory of it!  Wikipedia defines it as:

The rule of thirds is a "rule of thumb" or guideline which applies to the process of composing visual images such as designs, films, and photographs. The guideline proposes that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally spaced horizontal lines and two equally spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of the technique claim that aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject. 

So there you go, and I actually quite like the all black reverse of this book as well!

10 pages, with a black back, individual pages 5"(h) and 3.25"(w), when opened 2ft 8.25".

Back of the accordion

Athena Tacha, My Night Sagas, Washington, D.C., 2014

A fascinating accordion by this accomplished multi-media artist who was one of the pioneers of environmental site-specific sculpture, with over 40 public art commissions completed across the USA.

This accordion is one in a series of over 26 "pocket booklets" that she started in 1972, in which she records the intimate details of her life and experiences. This particular one lays out in detail her difficulties sleeping, and the varied ways in which she has dealt with this problem. It's actually really interesting reading, and I'm sure we can all relate to particular aspects of her 'night sagas'!

Below is a list of the other accordions in this series from 1972-2015:

Different Notions of Cleanliness, 1972 The Way My Mind Works, 1972–3My Mother: A Psychological Portrait, 1973 The Process of Aging (Fragment of an on-going thorough self-analysis and description to be completed by the end of my life), 1974 Tragic Cats, 1974–5 My Adolescent Loves, 1974–6 Little Pleasures, 1978–80 My Fears, 1979–80Little Habits, 1980 Reaching Fifty: The Process of Aging, II, 1986–87Identity (Dissection of a Specimen), 1990–1 Vulnerability, 1981–93 Love, 1983–93 Turning Sixty-Five: The Process of Aging, III, 2001 My Childhood Garden (Visual Memory Excavation #1), 2001 My Childhood Home (Visual Memory Excavation #2), 2001 My Youthful Photo-Album (Visual Memory Excavation #3), 2001 Different Notions of Thriftiness, 1978–2005 Different Notions of Time, 1979–2005 Different Realities, 1982–2005 Life’s Layering, 2005 Threescore Years and Ten: The Process of Aging IV (2002–06), 2012 Seventy-Five and Counting: The Process of Aging V 2007–11 (1st Half), 2012 Seventy-Five and Counting: The Process of Aging V 2007–11 (2nd Half), 2012 My Night Sagas, 2014 Battlefronts at Eighty (The Process of Aging VI), 2015

8 pages double-sided, each 5.5"(h) by 2.75"(w) and when opened 1ft 10".

Back of the accordion

Ruby Sky Stiler, Sun Breaker, Exile Books: Miami, Florida, 2015, ed. 250

A very cool architecturally inspired accordion that includes cuts & openings within it's pages, and was published in conjunction with Stiler's exhibition "Sun Breaker," (2015) at Locust Projects in Miami. I'll let the publisher's text about the publication explain what's happening with her exploration of the architectural feature known as brise soleil: 

Sun Breaker explores the tropical, modernist architecture native to Miami. Sun Breaker refers to brise soleil, a common architectural element in the tropics that reduces heat gain in buildings by deflecting sunlight. These sun-shading structures take the form of perforated surfaces that are both decorative and utilitarian, allowing for the free flow of light and air through a building’s façade. In Sun Breaker, Stiler also creates a permeable structure for the viewer to look both at and through. This 13-sided, free-form, accordion artist’s book pairs imagery of Miami’s iconic brise soleil architecture alongside perforated arrangements of cut paper shapes on a flat scanner bed. Stiler connects the light of the scanner and the punctuated sunlight streaming through patterned walls to illuminate a loose narrative that incorporates the female figure, an ongoing theme in the artist’s practice. 

For a link to installation photographs of the exhibition go to:
http://www.rubyskystiler.com/projects/sun-breaker-locust-projects-miami-2015#157

13 pages double-sided, 8.75"(h) and 6"(w), when opened 6ft 6".

Reverse side of the accordion

Back cover page