R. Clarke-Davis, Six Accordions, 2022

Over the last couple of months I've been the recipient of a cool new batch of accordions from R. Clarke-Davis. What's interesting to me about these accordions is that they're back-to-the-basics accordions. It's refreshing for me to see these with their lush colors and subtle sequencing. R. Clarke-Davis and I have recently been in correspondence regarding the nature of the accordion, and the titles for four of these works were words he had added to the front of the envelopes in which he mailed these individual accordions. So, I see these works as a part of our larger dialogue about accordions, and the titles would seem to confirm this also.

You can find other works by R. Clarke-Davis in this blog if you search!

All are the same dimensions: 3 double-sided pages, individually 3.5" x 5.5" and when unfolded 1ft 4.5".

Untitled, 2022

Untitled, 2022

a concerteeny?, 2022

a concertiny?, 2022

a laprellino?, 2022

a accordionette?, 2022

Billy Ocallaghan, Galileo's drawings of our Sun's spots (1612) & Our Sun's Spots (401 years after Galileo), improper printing, Anchor Bay, 2021

Two fascinating 'cascading' accordions that take Galileo's drawings of the Sun's spots over the course of the year 1612 as their subject matter. Both accordions are accompanied with an information sheet about the work, with further detailed information on how they were published, and quite uniquely, suggestions on how to handle them, as per below:

"this cascading accordion will animate when played and physically animate our Sun's rotation. first, imagine your two hands resting side-by-side & holding a small book open across both hands. the white end pages, one in each hand, are the handles - squeeze hold of the outside edges or grab hold if needed. next, imagine your hands are on a vertical pulley, and will only move up and down but not side-to-side. understand that moving your hands apart horizontally will end in collapse. which is no big deal, part of getting started, easily remedied. somewhat like playing a slinky crossed with a flipbook."

For each of the two books featured here i'm going to reproduce the introductory texts that accompany each accordion, as they both give the fullest expression as to what Ocallaghan is trying to do with these unique works.  Both accordions feature 35 drawings, across 70 single-sided pages, measuring 6 5/8" x 1 7/8", and when fully opened 10.75 feet.

note: I have another of Ocallaghan's accordions titled Lucky (2017) on this blog at: accordion publications: Billy Ocallaghan, Lucky, improper printing, 2017, ed. open

Galileo's drawings of our Sun's spots (1612), 2021

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) drew our Sun's spots at about the same time each day over the course of 37 days in June and July of 1612 (skipping two days and yielding 35 drawings). He could not look directly at our Sun without significant damage to this eyes. His solution was to use the latest technology - a telescope - to project an image of the Sun onto a piece of prepared paper. Galileo drew a circle with a compass and positioned the paper so that the Sun aligned with the circle, allowing him to draw in the sunspots from a consistent perspective each day. A casual review of these drawings makes evident that our Sun rotates, and at a much slower rate than the Earth's 24-hour cycle. 

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Our Sun's Spots (401 years after Galileo), 2021

Galileo Galilei drew our Sun's spots, at about the same time each day over the course of 37 days in June and July 1612 (skipping two days and yielding 35 drawings). a casual review of these drawings makes evident that our Sun rotates, and at a much slower rate than Earth's 24-hour cycle. NASA launched the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft to geosynchronous orbit (around Earth) in 2010. Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA), onboard SDO, photographs our Sun every 15 minutes (24/7/365) using four multi-wavelength telescopic cameras (NASA posts images at SDO | Solar Dynamics Observatory

I selected 35 NASA photos of our sun (SDO/AIA 171), one per day around noon GMT, from June and July 2013, each image corresponding in date (+401 years) to one of Galileo's drawings; I inverted these images (making the sunspots black, like in Galileo's drawings); and I made 35 drawings of our Sun's spots (401 years after Galileo) based on these images. this cascading accordion presents 35 drawings, side-by-side, in sequence, across 70 pages.

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Joseph Beuys, Eine Strassenaktion (A Street Action), Edition Dietmar Werle, Koln, 1988, ed. 500

I was doing some research for a new show of postcards published by Edition Staeck of Beuys and his works, and I came across this cool accordion. While not exactly a genuine Beuys multiple, since he died two years before its publication, nevertheless its an interesting piece in itself, and can be considered more a piece of documentation. However, Beuys did publish a much more elaborate multiple from this action in an edition of 100.

The photographs by Bernd Jansen document Beuys performing the action in the street in Koln on June 18, 1971 in which he can be seen discussing his ideas about direct democracy. I'll let the following quote from Matthew Gale of the Tate Modern flesh out the larger context in which this work took place. (Joseph Beuys at Tate Modern London - Artmap.com)

"Beuy's activities became explicitly politicised in the 1970s. A series of confrontations with the Academy of Art in Dusseldorf over the number of students he could admit to his class led to wider questions about accessibility and the relationship between ordinary people and authority. In 1971 he founded a Free Academy and the more overtly political Organisation for Direct Democracy through Referendum. Beuys argued that social decision-making should be made by the people through referendums rather than elected political parties...Later he became involved in the German Green Party and organised the planting of 7000 oak trees around the city of Kassel."  

8 single-sided pages, individually 6" x 8.25" and when fully open 4ft.

Gallery statement about this accordion

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Ingela P. Arrhenius, Mini Animaux, Marcel & Joachim, Paris, 2021

 

A beautifully designed book with very cool illustrations by this Swedish illustrator who lives in Stockholm. Arrhenius has also done many other children's books as well as commissions for print patterns for fabrics, wallpaper and stationary as well as home accessories and toys.

16 double-sided pages, individually 6.75" x 5" and when fully opened 6' 8".

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Paola Bragado, The Mexicanas, Cuadernos de la Kursala no. 81, Kursala and Hydra/Inframundo, Cadiz and Mexico City, 2021

A visually rich and complex accordion that accompanied Bragado's exhibition/ installation of the same name at La Kursala, an exhibition space featuring emerging Spanish photographers in Madrid, Spain. Bragado is also a Madrid-based photographer and the subjects of these photographs are Mexican ficheras (hostesses) who dance with clients in nightlife venues. Each dance, drink or bottle consumed with their companions earn them a small amount of money. This profession dates back to the golden age of dancehalls, and still survives in some venues in Mexico City. 

There is a relaxed sense of collaboration between the photographer and the women, indeed Bragado also "...invites women acquaintances and friends to share poses and sessions with the hostesses. This play with the impurity of the documentary portrait also leads the artist to try other ways of constructing gesturality." [Paola Bragado. The Mexicans - PHotoESPAÑA]

The text below by Miguel Errazu is from an insert that comes with the accordion and is titled “Re-exposure.”

For extensive documentation of the exhibition see: The Mexicanas, PhotoEspaña El Águila Exhibition room, Madrid, Spain. 2021 – Paola Bragado

40 double-sided pages, individually 8" x 5.5", and when fully extended including covers 19' 3".

reverse side

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Angela Flowers, Post Card Show, January, 11 - 30th, London, 1971

As far as I know this catalogue is for one of the first artists' postcards exhibitions, with Canada's Image Bank following up with their first one in October of the same year. One of the reasons Image Bank had the show in 1971 was that it was the 100th year anniversary of the distribution of the first picture postcard. 

This accordion reproduces 19 of the cards in the show, including works by Ray Johnson, Joseph Beuys, Peter Blake, Richard Hamilton, David Hockney and Robert Filliou. The show is also a product of its time with only a sprinkling of women's cards including Suzi Gablik, Carolee Schneeman and Gillian Wise.

Angela Flowers opened her longstanding contemporary art gallery in London in 1970. As of the present moment she has two galleries in London, one in New York and another in Hong Kong. For more info about this unique gallery see:  About the gallery | Flowers Gallery 

For more information about this fascinating genre of artists' multiples see Jeremy Cooper's two books: Artists' Postcards from 1960 to now (2019), and Artists' Postcards: A Compendium (2012).

21 single-sided pages, individual size 6.25" x 4.25" and when fully opened 10' x 21.25".

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Richard Hamilton and David Hockney's postcards from the show on the front cover of Studio International, February 1971, that featured a review of the show.