Natalya Balnova, Principles of Jelly Making, 2013, ed. 30 and Beasty Heads, 2018, ed. 3

Principles of Jelly Making, 2013, ed. 30: 12 pages, double-sided, single page 5.5"(h) x 5"(w), and when fully open 2ft 6".

Two really gorgeous silk-screened accordions by this Russian born designer and illustrator, who studied in St. Petersburg and is presently working in publishing in New York. In a 2015 interview, when asked about her involvement with designing books and book covers, she responded "...working in book publishing was my dream work. I always wanted to work with books or poster design or create design products that connect to the music industry or theaters." 

Balnova continues making her own bookworks, and these two outstanding examples display her design and illustration skills to full effect. Their's a lightness, and a freshness to the work, as well as a latent humor that sits just below the surface of these two accordion books. 

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Beasty Heads, 2018, ed. 3: 8 pages, one-sided, single page 5.5"(h) x 4.5"(w), when fully open 3ft.

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Ashra, Untitled, Paris, 2019

I'm always excited to come across an erotic accordion. This tiny work is a series of black and white photographs of a heterosexual couple engaged in sexplay. The way its printed draws attention to the screen used in the photographic reproductions, and this acts as a distancing device, and it thwarts our desire to see the image clearly — the tease of the erotic photograph I assume!

I've been unable to find out anything about the author(s) of this accordion, so I would be grateful if anyone can help me with more information.

14 pages, individual page 2.25"(h) x 2.25" (w), when fully opened 1ft 3.75".

 

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Virginia Dwan, Flowers, Radius Books, Santa Fe, 2016

This 78ft long accordion came as a complete surprise to me. Just its length alone makes it noteworthy, but the artist who created this work has an illustrious and important history as a gallerist who started her Dwan Gallery in 1959 in Los Angeles, and in 1965 opened a branch in New York as well. Dwan promoted a whole roster of cutting edge artists of the period, and featured them in a stream of groundbreaking exhibitions in her gallery. In 1971 she closed the gallery and concentrated on sponsoring and helping earthwork artists to execute their works around the country.

This book took three and a half years to complete as she documented military cemeteries across the nation's national cemetery system. No text introduces this anti-militarist tome except for this brief quote at the beginning of the book by the activist and folk singer Peter Seeger, "Where have all the flowers gone?". This accordion is a visual poem, and there's a profound sense of silence that hovers over this enormous book —  a sort of reverence and a commemoration for the many missing lives that form the core of the book.

104 pages, each page 12"(h) x 9"(w), single-sided and when fully opened 78 feet.

update [1.7.22]: I've just had a phone chat with Virginia about this book and was amazed to discover that she had received no feedback/reviews about it at all!  She was very touched that I had found it a moving and powerful statement against war, and as she said to me "...war just produces dead bodies and cemeteries." Interestingly the decision for the accordion format came from her publisher, but it's the perfect design for this powerful anti-war book. I said I would continue to sing its praises. If you are interested in getting a copy they can be found on Amazon, or direct from the publishers (Radius Books).

another update [9.20.22]: Virginia Dwan died on Sept. 5, 2022 at the age of 90, she was born in Minneapolis in 1931. Here's a wikipedia link: Virginia Dwan - Wikipedia

Clotilde Perrin, At the same moment on earth (Au même instant, sur la Terre...), Rue du Monde, France, 2011

A really beautiful, and a quite large accordion that journey's across the globe dropping into 24 different cultures to peek at what the children in all these places would be doing at the same moment across the world. The illustrations by Perrin are superb making it easy for kids to empathize with these fellow children across the globe, and to spark their curiosity about these faraway destinations. Perrin has also quite subtly drawn the backgrounds to all these different places in such a way that they all join up and form an almost seamless backdrop to her story.

24 pages, on stiff cardboard, single-sided, individual pages 13" (H) x 6.25" (W), when fully opened 12ft 6".

accordion slipcase and the work

Caroline Sury, Grigi, Le Gangue Edition, Marseille, 2019, ed. 90

I just had to include this fun book by Sury, its not an accordion but each page is folded in half and when you start opening up two sequential pages you get a wonderful accordion book effect. Sury is founder, along with her partner Pakito Bolino, of Le Dernier Cri, an incredible publishing house known worldwide for their artists' books and magazines....check them out: http://www.lederniercri.org/catalog.html?lang=2

10 double-sided pages, 5.75" (H) x 4.5" (W). 

Sam Taylor-Wood, Unhinged, Bookworks, London, 1996, ed. 1000

 

A curious little accordion from this well known Brit film maker and photographer, who was also a member of the YBAs (Young British Artists) group that emerged to much acclaim in London in the late 1980s.

Apparently Taylor-Wood shot these photographs on a film set and then sequenced the resulting works in a manner where its hard to discern a theme or plot. The series really pushes the viewer to make up their own interpretations, and create their own shorts from this film strip.

22 pages single-sided, individual pages 5" (H) x 5.5" (W), when fully opened 10ft 1".

Marek Bieńczyk (author), Joanna Concejo (Illustrator), Prince in a Pastry Shop, Format publishing company, Wroclaw, Poland, 2016

This is the Polish version of this much admired book. The story revolves around a prince, his bear friend as well as his girlfriend, and their experiences in a pastry shop. One would usually assume that being in such a place would be a wonderful and happy experience, but the prince appears to be in a big funk.  Everybody around him is trying to make him happy, but it appears to be a hopeless task!  

The illustrations by the Polish artist, Joanna Concejo, are masterfully subtle and understated, and there's a wonderful sense of humor to the works, particularly in her depictions of the animals and the shenanigans they are all getting up to! This is coupled with her use of the panoramic space of the accordion and the elegance of her illustrations, which really takes this work to another level of excellence.

42 single-sided pages, 13" (H) x 5.5" (T), when opened 19ft 3".