Sol LeWitt, Black Gouaches, Galerie Digital Arts and Les Nouvelles Editions Séguier, Paris, 1992, ed. 1000

This accordion by LeWitt (1928-2007) is not in his typical minimalist style with some strict ordering principle that defines how the finished piece unfolds. This work would seem to be in direct opposition to that — a long line of shapeless black blobs strewn together with no seemingly obvious intention or meaning. And even though I've searched hard I have found no writings about this work at all - which makes it even more mysterious to me. So, dear reader I leave it up to you to make sense of this rather elegant work, and if you come across any tasty tidbits please let me know!

15 double-sided pages, individually 14" x 11.5", and when fully extended 14ft 4.5"

accordion with slipcover

statement on inside of back cover

Jules Gabillet, Simon Moussiere, Erwan LeGueval and Valentin Fleuret, Untitled, Rennes, 2022

In one of my recent posts I posted documentation of a cool accordion exhibition that I co-curated with my French colleague Marie Boivent in the exhibition space of the Artists' Book collection at the University of Rennes. It was also an historic exhibition as it was the first exhibition in France of accordions, or as the French prefer 'leporellos'.

In the brief time that I was in Rennes I addressed Marie's students a couple of times and was pleased to see a good number of them at the opening, as well as their attendance at the one-day conference the following day. This leporello, which was gifted to me, is a collaboration between four student artists around the theme of Vincent van Gogh's "The Starry Night" (1889) with texts on the reverse side that all amplify the theme of dark and light, and the swirling stars glistening in the sky above the village below. This is a fun publication with a well defined purpose that provides both a visual and textual response to this iconic painting.

6 double-sided pages, individually 3.75" x 2.75", and when unfolded with covers 1ft 10".

Editions Matière, La Method Bernadette (2008) and Laurence Lagier, Aoto (2018), Editions Matière, France

Two accordions from Editions Matière, the first one "La Method Bernadette" is an accordion publicity flier for a larger book about the fascinating story of how Editions Matière discovered a hoard of images created by a group of young women secretly consecrated to Christ, who in the early 1930s in the small French industrial town of Thaon-les-Vosges, developed a striking catechism method based on the use of black stencil drawings on white backgrounds in their fight to overcome "...the intellectual, moral, political and artistic depravity of the modern world."

Editions Matière describes Lagier's "aoto" this way: Aoto is the name of a district of Tokyo where Laurence Lagier briefly stayed. Lying on the paper, the landmarks she took there, which she remembers, mingle with the memories of an ancient scroll of the Tale of Genji  and are transformed into as many signs (milestones, points, scales, straight lines, crossings, etc.) which allow one to move flexibly, with grace, that is to say with freedom, from the street to the architecture, from the plan to perspective, from outside to inside, from paper to space, from composition of abstract modules to representation, to drawing, to urban landscape, to narrative perhaps… Aoto is a neighborhood, is a leporello. Aoto is a free game. Aoto is a game....

Please refer to a previous entry about Editions Matière and their involvement with the new French Abstract Formalist Comics (French Structural Comics) — of which Lagier would certainly seem to be a participant: [Nicolas Nadé, Ingredients, Editions Matière, 2016 and Sammy Stein, Sculpture, Editions Matière, 2016]

Editions Matière, La Method Bernadette, 2008

7 double-sided pages, individually 4.25" x 3.25 and unfolded 1ft 10.75"

reverse side

back cover

Laurence Lagier, aoto, 2018

7 double-sided pages, individually 6" x 4.5", and unfolded 2ft 7.5"

 

reverse side

back cover

R. Clarke-Davis [3 works], Astoria Bouquets, Off Season, Baltimore Ferryland, kiddy viddy press, 2023

Three new works in Clarke-Davis' a book of wander series with the first two using his 'puzzle book' fold that gives extra flaps to two pages, and the third one is presented in a long oblong format with the images printed on a thin delicate paper and is the longest of his accordions that I've seen.  As is typical of Clarke-Davis' accordions there's an underlying theme of travel and place, with the photographs foregrounding different features of these locations — Astoria Bouquets is a good example.

note: click on images to enlarge

Astoria Bouquets, 2023

8 double-sided pages, individually 5.25" x 4.25" and when unfolded 1ft 5"

back cover

Off Season, 2023

8 double-sided pages, individually 5.25" x 4.25" and when unfolded 1ft 5"

back cover

Baltimore Ferryland, 2023

14 single-sided pages, individually 4" x 8.5" and unfolded 9ft 11"

back cover