1x8, #0, Italy, 2016, ed. 500

A smart accordion issue of this magazine that appears to have disappeared without a trace. Edited by Milo Montelli and Michele Tagliaferri and with texts by Leonardo Tagliaferri, this issue is taken up with showcasing the works of "...8 artists we love." A cool sequencing of 8 photographs and a text dedicated to life "...because in the end it is all that WE have left."

16 pages at 10.5x7.5", double-sided and when open 3' 3".

Dogan Surek, Love Hope Belief, 1997

I only recently discovered this little beauty by Dogan Surek. With its mixture of hope and optimism, and then the dismal decline into something completely the opposite, this accordion charts it all in unsparing detail, even down to the hand-painted drips of blood!

I have a variety of Surek's other accordions on this site, and would claim that he is one of the few artists who has over the years consistently worked with the accordion format in really smart, interesting and creative ways.

I found this copy at Printed Matter in New York, always a good place for cool printed matter: Home - Printed Matter

8 pages double-sided, each page 4"x6", when opened 32".

Hans Waanders (1951-2001), Edinburgh Kingfishers, Pont la Vue Press, NY, 1999

A curious little one-sided accordion by this artist from the Netherlands. I'll let this statement from the Johan Deumens gallery, Amsterdam, that represents his estate describe his life's work:

Hans Waanders (Netherlands) used and subverted scientific techniques: etymology, classification, archiving, comparison of specimens. Yet the obsessive, controlling impulse is the product of a sense of loss: a beautiful moment, remembered and sought after, opening out a lyrical narrative about memory and yearning.

Hans Waanders work is prefaced by a moment in real life, elevated to the status of a legend: On October the 4th 1982 Hans Waanders saw for the first time the kingfisher along the river Maas. From that moment collecting and working out information about this bird started. The tangible result of the longing to see the kingfisher again. This desire was played out during the years following, obsessively documenting the kingfisher. Like the best detective stories, Waanders allowed himself to become obsessed with the idea of getting under the skin of his prey. The more perfect his know-ledge, and the closer his identification, the closer he believed he could get. (quotation Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh; For Once, Then, Something, 2001)

Upon his demise in 2001 Hans Waanders left behind an oeuvre of inestimable value. His estate is a universe on its own, an admirable and miraculous attempt to appropriate the kingfishers life. He published more than 200 books, many prints, countless stamps and multiples. It has been his wish to continue showing and offering his work to the world.

Johan Deumens

I have no idea who the author is of the open book of poetry on page 3, but there is a reference to a kingfisher in one of the verses.

4 pages, individual 3.25" x 4.5", when opened 18".

Clifford Hunt, Untitled, 2018

I just received this sweet little collage accordion from my longtime mate, Clifford Hunt. The secret to unlocking some of the 'texts' in this wonderful word game of a piece is that Clifford has just returned from a couple of glorious weeks in Portugal. Throw into the mix that Clifford has long been a wordist and player with texts and this work just seems to flow right from that source as well. I like the size and intimacy of it, as if you could carry it around all the time and use it as a talisman to ward off things you don't want to see or talk about....

6 pages, double-sided, individual page 2"x3.25", when open 19".

 Front

 Detail

 Back

Detail

Howard Munson, Casa de Las Ranas (The House of The Frogs), La Cieneguita, San Miguel, Mexico, nd

This beautifully crafted artist book by this San Francisco based bookmaker is illustrated with finely detailed photographs of the Casa de Las Ranas or The House of The Frogs, and its environs. This incredible artist environment in the countryide outside San Miguel, Mexico has been in the making ever since two American artists, Anado McLauchlin (1947-2021) and Richard Schultz acquired the property in 2011.

I recently visited this wonderful place and with a group of collaborators we created a new mosaic mural in the garden. I found Anado to be the most perfect and generous host, and upon hearing about my interest in accordion books gave me this beautiful book by Howard Munson. You can learn more about Anado's life & work here: Made by Anado – Official Site for Artist Anado McLauchlin

Height 7.25" x width 8", 40 pages, single sided, when open 28ft wide. I'm assuming this is a unique edition, although I did come upon another version in the house, but it had the feel of a test copy and was not as polished as this one. Possible date is 2017, as Munson travels to San Miguel seemingly quite often.

Souvenir postcard folder albums, c. 1940s - 1970s, USA

Found a basket of about 80 souvenir postcard folders at a local flee market and walked away with the lot for $10. Who can resist so many accordion publications? Popular from the 1940s to the 1970s these accordion strips of photographs were the perfect souvenir for the folks back home and they only cost 1.5 cents to mail from your hot vacation spot. None of the strips in these booklets are perforated and so the strip exists solely as a folded series of photographs, but they still retain something of the original genre that would have included perforations enabling the postcards to be detached and sent on their way. A variety of printing techniques appear over the years, but there is no experimentation with the format or any play within the generic postcard images of the touristic highlights from each location — apart from the two i'm posting below.

Eric Knisley and Jan Martijn Burger, Factory, 2017 [2nd ed. 50] and Tunnel, 2017 [2nd ed. 50], Raleigh, North Carolina

Here are two really fun and lively accordions that have been created through the exquisite corpse technique between these two accomplished artists, and the accordion format is absolutely ideal for this kind of artistic collaboration. I asked Eric for information about how the two of them worked together as their drawings merge seamlessly across the 11ft span of the works, and below are some selections from his response:

"...I've been doing these exquisite corpse/accordion books for about eight years now...I was traveling a great deal for work, on the plane for long periods, and I needed something to do on the plane that required no more than a pencil and some paper, and that's how it started.

These books are done "classic" corpse style: there's about one inch of image showing when each artist gets the book; the prior artist has drawn across two pages plus just a bit of the third page. So we don't get to see *all* of the other guy's work, just a wee bit. We're not allowed to look back at the rest of the art. The transitions are the good parts--we are constantly trying to trick each other as to what we're drawing, so you never know what will happen...

....Jan's a master puppeteer who runs the Paperhand Puppet Intervention, and is also a graduate of the Center For Cartoon Studies in Vermont. So he knows a thing or two about drawing and design. He was great to work with. We know each other's style fairly well, so we often had moments of cartoon telepathy while working on the project; that's why the art styles blend so well. Jan's influences are mostly European cartoonists — lots of clear line stuff. My influences are mostly American illustrators and underground cartoonists, so my lines tend to be much scratchier. You'll notice that there's a giant baby head in "Factory". This is because Jan and his wife had their first child while we were doing the project, and he just rolled that right into the book! Jan's an amazing guy — I was very lucky to get him as a collaborator...

One reason I have done all these books (about 35 at this point) is that they really push me hard as an artist. When I would get the book back from Jan, I'd look at the little one-inch strip he'd left me to work from, and I'd think, "Good grief, this is GREAT!" and then I'd think "Shit shit shit" because now I have to do better. Jan and I are both a bit competitive, so we would deliberately leave some really good work to intimidate the other guy. Ah, men..."

Dimensions for both books: 21 pages, single-sided, 9" (h) x 6" (w), when fully open 11ft. See Eric's Etsy store for purchases: Eric knisley

Ian Hamilton Finlay, 2 Notices (nd) and Textbooklet 2 (1979), Wild Hawthorn Press, Scotland

I have to confess I have a total soft spot for these delicate little accordions that Ian Hamilton Finlay (1925-2006) produced over the course of his life through his Wild Hawthorn Press in Scotland. There are a number of his other accordions scattered throughout this blog. 

This accordion documents two signs, one of which was installed as part of Ian Hamilton Finlay's wonderful garden, Little Sparta, and the other is a proposed sign for a specific location in the garden. For more information about the garden see: Little Sparta Trust

4 pages, single-sided, 2" (h) x 2" (w), when opened up 8".

Another visual poetry oriented work that I'm unable to decipher! 

Update: thanks to Paul Robertson for translation of VTOLP — Vertical Take Off and Landing Plane.

8 pages, single-sided, 4" (h) x 2" (w), when opened 16".

Jen Tong, 3 accordions: 1) Plant Life, 2) Structure, 3) Magic, no dates.

Below are three really lively and inventively constructed mini-accordions by this illustrator, print maker, comics and zine maker who lives in Brooklyn, check her out at: welcome

Plant Life, screenprint, 8 pages double-sided, 2.75" (h) x 2" (w), when opened 16" wide, nd.

Structure, screenprint, 16 double-sided pages, 3" (h) x 2.5" (w), open 20", nd [edition: 25]. This accordion is comprised of two same length prints stapled together at the middle, thus allowing the book to expand out in four different directions.

Magic, screenprint, 16 double-sided pages, 3" (h) x 2.5" (w), opened up 27.5", nd. This book also has another similar length print that runs alongside of the cover sheet but stapled together at a different point than the one above. The book expands out into 3 directions when opened up.