Inès Bonduki, Linha Vermelha, Red Line, Editora Tempo d'Imagem, Fortaleza, Brazil, 2017, ed. 600

This is a really powerful and moving accordion that takes full advantage of the unique expansiveness of the accordion format. Begun as part of her MA in Visual Arts course work it was originally self-published in a small edition of fifteen in 2016. Of this work Bonduki writes:

 "Between 2013 and 2015, I was dedicated to going and returning countless times on the Red Line of Sao Paulo's Metro at its peak hours, to experience and try to photograph the bodily and emotional intensity of this daily experience of 3 million people from Sao Paolo.

At the same time, I recorded the also intense dance jams in Sao Paulo (Contact Improvisation), in which bodily interaction takes place in an expansive way and from the sensitive listening of the other. By associating these two realities in the edition of the book Red Line, I realized that they came together and mixed, becoming almost the same."  

One commentator has noted how this book manages to convey something of the "corporal experience of urban life," and I would also add the sensuousness of this life as well.

Running in a long line along the length of the reverse is a text which seems to be a free verse poem in response to the experience of being in such close proximity to one's fellow travelers. This piece is by Marcelo Segreto.

43 double-sided pages, individual pages 6.5" x 6.5", and when opened 23' 3.5".

credits info inside the back cover

back cover

Jean-Charles Blais, Miracle, Editions Analogues, Arles, France, 2004

This accordion is the catalogue for Blais' one-person exhibition titled Miracle that featured works of his from the years 2000-2004, and was shown at the Musée Réattu in Arles, France from July 8 - October 10, 2004.

On one side of the catalogue the pages are comprised of completely black and white shapes that undulate across the pages, and appear to be selections from his video works. I rather liked this return to basics and the presence of large expanses of white pages was strangely attractive to me.

The reverse side goes into detail about his philosophy and features a variety of the works in the show. My apologies to French speakers as my translation skills are no match for the texts printed here, but it appears Blais works with installations in public spaces as well as working in video. 

32 double-sided pages, individual pages 11.75" x 7.75", and when fully open it measures 20' 8".

catalogue sleeve and catalogue

reverse side of catalogue with catalogue sleeve

 

Bureau d'Investigation Photographique (BIP), Kyrielle, Editions Incertain Sens, Rennes, 2017, ed. 300

The BIP (Bureau of Photographic Investigation) is a French collective of seven photographers and this accordion represents ten years of work carried out between 2005 and 2015. The photographers are: Antoine Chaudet, Bruno Elizabeth, Richard Louvet, Damien Mousseau, Emilie Traverse, Matthieu Tremblin and Philemon Vanorle.

The structure of this book is based on a Kyrielle, which is a French form of rhyming poetry, and here each photographer chose an image that responded to the one before it, thus creating a work that is connected by the associations each photographer discerned in the previous work. The result is an accordion exhibition of the group's work. Also included in this book is a sheet with the photographers names and the works of their's included in this book. 

34 double-sided pages, individual pages 8.5" x 6.25", and when fully opened 17' 8.5".

back cover with statement about the book

Zoe Beloff, Parade of the Old New, self-published, 2019

This is a substantial accordion at 19ft long, and it takes it's title from a 1938 poem of the same name by Bertolt Brecht. I'll let Beloff describe what she was trying to do with this sharp political and historical work:

"...now more than ever, we are not finished with the past and the past is not finished with us. The project was launched with Trump's inauguration and continued until he was defeated at the ballot box. It begins with the president's triumphal entry into Washington DC. Beyond stretches a country where the Mexican border wall meets Japanese internment camps from the 1940s at a vanishing point. It chronicles the desecration of public lands for profit, the battle of Charlottesville, the arrest of undocumented workers across the country and the detention of asylum seekers at the border. It illustrates the toll of COVID 19, the work of the nurses, the breadlines, young people painting "Black Lives Matter" mapping a road ahead, the storming of the Capitol and finally the flickering light of what might be a new beginning." [zoebeloff.com]

On the reverse side is a long essay exploring the themes in this work, and Beloff covers a lot of ground both artistically and historically, and she brings us up to the controversies of the contemporary moment. This is a substantial work and it's heartwarming to come across such an ambitious accordion that takes such a sweeping look at how we got to be where we are, and the seeds of hope for a better future.

38 double-sided pages, individual 9" x 6", and when fully open 19'.

reverse side with essay

back cover

Alfonso Barrera, Random Spleen, Polvoh Press, Oaxaca, Mexico, 2019, ed. 14

I'm unable to find any information about what this curious little publication is all about! Berrera started Polvoh Press in 2014 and they are "...a multi-graphic publishing project that brings together printed publications in the following techniques: screen printing, lithography, offset, risography, movable type and digital printing. All editions are limited, independent and made in Oaxaca. Our goal is to publicize our personal work and local artists."

Just for the record here's a description of the spleen and what it does: The spleen plays multiple supporting roles in the body. It acts as a filter for blood as part of the immune systems. Old red blood cells are recycled in the spleen, and platelets and white bloods cells are stored there. The spleen also helps fight certain kinds of bacteria that cause pneumonia and meningitis. 

8 double-sided pages, individual pages 6.25" x 6.25", and when opened up 4' 2".

reverse with gold ink

back cover

Pyrex, 8 cup Carafe with candle, publicity brochure, c. 1959

A wonderful little accordion brochure that came with some Pyrex ware that I acquired a little while ago. I must admit I didn't give this piece of publicity a second glance, since I was much more enamored by the carafe! So a big thank you to Lillian Sizemore for retrieving this from the trash and saving it for when I would finally appreciate it!!

A photograph of the 8 cup Carafe with candle is at the end of this post.

5 double-sided pages, each 3.25" x 3.25", when open 1' x 4.25".

8 cup Carafe with candle

Görüş Hakkı, Panorama (The Right of View), Andreas Fogarasi and Sputnik Editions, Milan, 2013, ed. 500

cover with the Panorama in foreground

This accordion is the documentation for an ambitious project that was a large-scale text-based temporary installation, originally sited on one side of the Bosporous in Istanbul (2010), and then moved to the other side (2011), as seen in the above photograph. In the background skyline of this photograph is the medieval conical tower known as the Galata Tower. This tower is well-known for its panoramic view of the city and the Bosporous (see vintage panoramic photo below). Görüş' installation was a large circle of texts imprinted on a continuous panel. You climbed a short stairway to engage with the work, and to read the many texts, interspersed with cut-outs that allowed visitors to see through the work and to different "views" of the city behind it. 

This accordion reproduces all the texts in the work, and collectively they relate both literally and metaphorically, around the idea of "views," and while the texts tackle a wide range of subjects their central core is Istanbul itself. This accordion is like a panorama of the city, and an observation deck from which to get a sense of the long sweep of the city's history.

26 single-sided pages, 5.75" x 8", when fully open 12' 5".

photographs looking up into the work

back cover (the installation is at bottom left)

Basile Kargopoulo (1826-86), "Panorama of Constantinople," c. 1870s

detail "Panorama of Constantinople," c. 1870s

detail "Panorama of Constantinople," c. 1870s