Accordion address books (2), 1990s-2003

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I found these two tiny accordion address books amongst the personal effects of my recently deceased parents-in-law, Leon Ishkanian and Alice Tchakedjian in Heliopolis, Egypt earlier this year. They both appear to be address books for specific holiday destinations: Sydney, Australia and California, USA. Individual pages for each are 3.75" x 2.5" with an opened length of 21.5" & 23" respectively. The back and front panels of both books are magnetized in order to keep the publication firmly closed. Two very interesting booklets in terms of their function, economy of size and the ease with which the relevant information can be scanned and retrieved. 

Here's a link to a blog about my trip to Cairo in January, as well as another trip that I had to take in February under very different, and tragic circumstances: Egyptian Dispatches

Fan, unknown author, no date

It's only just occurred to me that fans, in all their variety, should also be considered part of the accordion family.

Hartmut Andryczuk, Elektronikengel, 2003 & Bauplan Teilchenzoo, 2011, Redfox Press, Blue Fox Collection,' Achill Island, County Mayo, Ireland

Electronikengel (front), 2003, edition of 50

Electronikengel (back)

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Bauplan Teilchenzoo (front), 2011, edition of 70. "Drawings and classification of elementary particles in physics." 

(publishers statement)

Bauplan Teilchenzoo (back)

These are two really exquisite screenprinted accordions by the German artist and publisher Hartmut Andryczuk (b. 1957). I can't pretend to understand exactly what the narrative is about in both of these books but there's a wonderful use of the panoramic qualitiy of the accordion format, with an intriguing mixture of visual poetry, text/image and a strong dose of lettrist inspired imagery. The screenprinted wooden covers give both books a substantial objectness and contrast nicely with the delicacy and lightness of the imagery in both of these double-sided  publications. 

Both books are 3' 2" opened full length with 10 pages each whose dimensions are 6' 1/4"  x 3' 3/4". These two books are a couple of the more compelling examples in Redfoxpress' 'Blue Fox Collection' of accordion publications. More info at: BLUE FOX COLLECTION

Richard Long, A Walk Past Standing Stones, Coracle Press for Anthony d'Offay, 1980

This is a really beautiful palm-sized accordion documenting a series of 9 standing stones that Long passed during one of his walk-as-art works in Cornwall, England. Either as documentation of an ephemeral activity, or simply as an artists' book, this small publication exudes a sense of intimacy through these mute signposts while a narrative of distance connects Long's walk and the origins of these stones.

For further information about Long's activities see his site at: richard long Individual page 3.5"(h) x 2 3/8"(w), extended 23.5".

Lewis Koch, Street vendor, Paris, France, 1991, from "Touchless Automatic Wonder." Madison: Borderland Books, 2009.

This street vendor is hawking an accordion postcard strip of scenic views of Paris, and this photograph can be found on Lewis Koch's website Touchless Automatic Wonder  A recent post on this blog has featured Koch's "8 Wisconsin Images" (1977) another accordion postcard strip.  

Bea Nettles, Seasonal Turns: Four Accordion Books, 1998

An intriguing boxed set of 4 accordions that reference the seasons. Each double-sided accordion has one photograph per page in a loose sequencing that foregrounds both the image's singularity and simultaneously its place within a larger series of images. Single page: 3.5" x 3.5," fully extended 17.5" 

Nicolas Lampert, Seeing Green: Art Ecology and Activism in MIlwaukee, Woodland Pattern Book Center, Milwaukee, 2008

Catalogue for an art show curated by Nicolas Lampert and exhibited at Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee in April, 2008. Includes reproductions of works and short statements by the more than 35 artists from Milwaukee whose works all reflect an engagement with community, the environment and working with the public to foster dialogue and collaboration. Single page: 7" x 11", fulled extended, 35".

Lewis Koch, 8 Wisconsin Images, 1977

Koch created this postcard accordion under the auspices of the Wisconsin Arts Board who hired him and eight other artists to work on a project called "Wisconsin Images." All the photographs were taken around the state and this publication was inspired by his involvement with the theme. All the artists' works also appeared in a book documenting the project titled "Wisconsin Images" (1978) edited by Michael Doyle. Individual cards: 4" x 6", fully extended 43".

Stephen Perkins, I AM..., C-print, 2011

This accordion takes as its inspiration the "I AM A Man" placards carried by striking African-American sanitation workers in Memphis in April 1968 and immortalized in the famous photograph by Ernest Withers. I understand this poster to be a call to be treated with dignity and equality as well as being a proud declaration of humanity.

My use of this iconic text is set within the larger context of the attack on unions, public workers and teachers in the state of Wisconsin by Governor Scott Walker. As a resident of this state and a public worker within the university system, I am experiencing first hand both the ideological and financial repercussions of Walker's radical Republican agenda.

This piece is meant as a statement of pride in being a public servant as well as a message of resistance against the negative rhetoric and extraordinary actions being taken against state workers in Wisconsin.

Individual pages 6" x 4", fully extended 6" x 24".

Yves Tanguy, Untitled, 1928, Art Institute of Chicago

Accordion publications share many similarities with folding screens and this one by Tanguy (1900-1955) can be found in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Size: single panel 78.75" x 23.5", extended the combined length of the eight panels is 15' 8". Below is the information on the label accompanying the work. 

Largely self-taught, Yves Tanguy joined the Surrealists in 1925 and quickly developed his own vocabulary of organic, amoebalike shapes that populate dreamlike settings. The Surrealists sought a revolution of everyday consciousness through the critique of reason and the promotion of fantasy and unconsciousness, and many tried to provoke surreal experiences in their works by interweaving the familiar and the unfamiliar. Little information exists about the circumstances of this screen's production, but Tanguy probably made it for a patron's home. Many Surrealists were interested in the decorative arts, and other domestic objects. In this whimsical example, the screen, while retaining its traditional function of closing off the private world, simultaneously opens dream and fantasy up to the public sphere. 

© 2012 Estate of Yves Tanguy / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York