Juan Yactayo Sono, Coto de Caza (Hunting Reserve), Pegueño Pato, Lima, Peru, 2017, 1st edition.

Presented in a smart silkscreened box (not like the damaged one I have here!), are 5 double-sided accordions with photographs on each side, one small book with short snippets of conversations in Spanish, and a smaller one with the English translations of these negotiations for sex.

Sono is our guide as he takes us into the 'hunting reserve' of illegal cruising places in Lima, where people are engaged in having anonymous sex, and the 5 accordions record the darkened places where these men have these sexual encounters. There's a real charged feeling to these accordions, and the depictions of these darkened places immerse the reader in what Sono describes as places of "pleasure, darkness, fear, tension and loneliness."

In the final page of both books is a statement by Sono that very eloquently summarizes his experiences of these erotic and sexually charged locations:

"Perhaps for many people the anonymity of these cruising spots is the only way to come out and interact with other gay people. For others, maybe, it can mean the search for a sexual freedom that is not outside, because outside one must behave in certain ways. Even these places may not be charged with any prejudice, and just be places where you can go to have sex. Regardless of the reasons that attracts us to these spaces, once inside there is no judgement. We are all the same. Finally here I can be whoever I want to be".

The 5 accordions are the same sizes and length, and individually each is comprised of 6 pages with a total of 12 images, and each individual page is 4"(h) x 5.5"(w), and when fully opened each accordion is 2ft 9".

Horacio Zabala, (Hipotesis), arte-blogarte.org, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2018, ed. 40

Zabala was born in Argentina in 1943, and over the years he's established himself as one of that country's key conceptual artists. This accordion bookwork explores issues and concerns that are key areas of exploration in Zabala's broader image-making practice. Of the larger concerns of the Hypothesis works, Zabala explains below:

The Hypothesis Series is an ongoing investigation into the relationships between monochrome (painting without image or composition) and signs (grammatical or mathematical). Although both are visible presences, my interest is oriented not only towards what is seen, but also towards what is thought of what is seen.

Generally speaking, I am more interested in the relationships between things than things themselves. My preliminary projects arise from the temptation to point out, activate or resolve something about the correspondences, links and analogies between monochrome and signs. [http://www.artehispano.com.ar/Horacio_Zabala_Anteproyectos_y_Hipotesis.html]

Furthermore, these punctuated monochromes can only suggest different series and combinations, and the onus is placed on the viewer to make sense of these 'sentences' composed of symbols and signs that reference both logic and reason. 

It took me a little time to wrap my head around what Zabala is doing across this series, but now I can see a beautiful elegance in the interplay between these non-objective symbols and their sequencing, and their presentation in a kind of image sentence. It's worth taking the time to seek out the paintings and sculptural works that Zabala has created as he explores these themes across different media.

4 pages, single page 9" by 8.25", and when fully open 4' 1.5".

Stephen Perkins, Sampler: Distinct Taupe - Pepper Shake, 2019, ed. 1

I can never resist grabbing extra bunches of these color sample cards whenever I'm buying paints.

9 pages of assorted widths, height 4", when opened 25".

Nando Murio, Casa de Acuario (House of Aquarius), silk-screen, Concordia Publishing, Mexico, 2020, ed. 40

I'm not exactly sure what is going in this rather delicate screen print, but there seems to be a number of primordial figures and creatures moving around in an indeterminate kind of landscape. 

The zodiac element for Aquarius is air, and its symbol is Ganymede, the water-carrier. Ganymede was the son of Tros, who just happened to be the king of Troy. Zeus fell in love with him, and ever since that time Ganymede served as the cupbearer of the gods [wikipedia]. This accordion appears to be illustrating some of the adventures and mis-adventures visited upon our poor hero. Either way a cool accordion by this master printer from Querera, Mexico.

Sixteen pages, single page 6.5" x 3.5". When fully opened 2ft 11". 

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Clifford Hunt, These Days..., 2020

My mate Clifford, poet and wordster out in Half Moon Bay in California, has really been kicking out the accordions, and this one speaks to us all at this particular moment in time.

8 pages, double-sided, each page 3.5" (h) x 3" (l), when opened 1ft.

Long long ago...., In The Spirit of Fluxus, Walker Art Center, February 14 - June 6, 1993.

A fun piece of fluxy publicity material for a large early show of Fluxus in a prestigious museum setting.

6 pages, each page 5" (h) x 7" (l), when opened 1ft 9".

Kanzaka, Sekka, A Flight of Butterflies, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thames and Hudson, 1979

This is a beautiful facsimile of a book in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the original was printed in April 1904 by the Japanese publishing house Yamada Unsodo, illustrated with woodblock prints by Kanzaka Sekka.

Reproduced in the introduction to this new version is a preface by Yoshi Zo that was printed in the the original version, and he includes the following text in his introductory essay:

"Suddenly I heard someone approaching. I had been dreaming; there were butterflies come from the mist, and I was sleeping among the violets. The evening sparrows were singing. I went home, and there I had a visit from Sekka. He told me that he had recently painted one thousand butterflies. He asked me to write a preface, and so I wrote about my dream".

This is a beautiful reproduction of the original work. One curious feature of this facsimile is that instead of utilizing one long piece of paper, each individual page is glued at the edge with the preceding page, and as a result you cannot fully open the pages, which really hampers the unfolding of this accordion, and achieving the full effect of this wonderful format.

One-sided, individual pages 10"(h) x 7.25"(w), for a total of 58 pages and when fully opened 35ft 1/2".

Taly Levi, Three Accordions, digital prints, 2020

Three cute little accordions from this young book and multidisciplinary artist from Israel. 

Title: Little People 1, 2020

 

8 pages, individual pages 2.75"(h) x 2"(w), when opened 1ft 4".

                                          Title: Little People 2, 2020

8 pages, individual pages 2.75"(h) x 2"(w), when opened 1ft 4".

Title: The Three of Us, 2020

8 pages, individual pages 2.75"(h) x 2"(w), when opened 1ft 4".

Speaking of Book Arts: Oral HIstories from UW-Madison, Feb., 1 - April 19, 2020, Chazen Museum, Madison, WI

I just couldn't resist including this piece of publicity for a recent exhibition of book arts at the Chazen museum here in Madison. Naturally, the reason for its inclusion is the placement of a cool accordion by Kathleen O'Connell (Meditation in Traffic, 2014, letterpress) in the center of the piece of publicity.

Faye Morehouse, How to Befriend a tiger, nd

Just the title of this work is enough. The final result is beautifully understated and just right.

5 pages, individual pages 3.75"(h) x 2.25"(w), when open 11.25".

Creepy-Crawlies, Candlewick Press, 2012.

Another winner from Candlestick Press that complements their Dinosaurs accordion that I featured a little while ago on this blog. This one does not disappoint with its eye-catching graphics, its wonderful opening-up with all the animals popping out in perfect unison, and coupled with the craft and skill of the expert paper-maker and constructor — bravo!

14 double-sided pages, 4.25"(h) x 4"(w), when opened 4ft 11.5".