They Were Like Poetry
I’m happy to announce my new book. It consists of poems based on a suggestion by James Joyce.
The poems are exercises, composed from sentences that were themselves meant as exercises. The sentences come from a popular 19th century school grammar by Alexander Allen and James Cornwell. Joyce mentions the “nice sentences” in this book and the idea of them as poetry in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man:
And there were nice sentences in Doctor Cornwell’s Spelling Book. They were like poetry but they were only sentences to learn the spelling from.
——Wolsey died in Leicester Abbey
——Where the abbots buried him.
——Canker is a disease of plants,
——Cancer one of animals.
It would be nice to lie on the hearthrug before the fire, leaning his head upon his hands, and think on those sentences.
Which is what I did.
The edition consists of 100 numbered copies. The book is self-published, has black & white printing, a paperback binding, and contains 68 pages.
Priced at €24 plus shipping. The book can be ordered through my webshop or by sending me an email. It will also be available at the table I’m sharing with Joachim Schmid at the New York Art Book Fair, September 25-28.
See some images by clicking here.
The Photographer’s Playbook
The Photographer’s Playbook came out, published by Aperture. It is a very enjoyable and well executed collection of photography assignments, ideas, projects and anecdotes from a huge variety of artists, edited by Jason Fulford and Gregory Halpern. I contributed a conceptual piece cloaked as an assignment. It is titled ‘The Death of the Photographer’.
A Dialogue in Eikon Magazine
I published a short new piece titled ‘A Dialogue’ as a 4-page portfolio in Eikon Magazine. It is based on my earlier book Mood: Potential. The piece uses the hand and eye of the reader to realize itself. It was made by invitation from Regine Ehleiter and Delphine Bedel who discuss ‘The Book as a Work as an Exhibition as a Book’ in a curated section of the magazine. Eikon Magazine, #86, Vienna, 2014. More images through this link.
A book to dive into
One Swimming Pool at Arti et Amicitiae. The opening reception is tonight. The exhibition runs till June 22. The drawing on the wall in the second picture is by Robbie Cornelissen.
The Invisible Book and the Cheshire Cat
“Like the Cheshire Cat, the book’s vanishing acts and reappearances are unpredictable and partial.” Gill Partington writes a stimulating piece for the London Review of Books blog about the implications of The Invisible Book.
Exhibition Living Space
The Invisible Book will be on view in Surface habitable/Living Space at Chaumont Design Graphique, as part of the International Poster and Graphic Design Festival. The work was selected by Loraine Furter. The exhibition runs from May 17 to June 9 in Chaumont, France.
Exhibition Staged City
My work One Swimming Pool will be on view in Staged City at Arti & Amicitiae in Amsterdam. The show is curated by Laura van Rijs and Petra Noordkamp and includes work by Jan Adriaans, Maria Barnas, Robbie Cornelissen, Pawel Jaszczuk, Lucas Lenglet, Petra Noordkamp, Paulien Oltheten, Pablo Pijnappel, Diana Scherer, Arjan van Helmond, Sarah van Sonsbeeck, Batia Suter, Rogier Taminiau and Elisabeth Tonnard.
The exhibition runs from May 24 till June 22. Opening night: May 23, 8PM – 10PM.
On press for World Book Night
My Bukowski inspired OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOhhhhhhhhhHHHH! is ready for printing by Sarah Bodman at the Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol tonight (in celebration of World Book Night). The invitation was to create a summary of Bukowski’s Post Office. Wishing everyone happy printing!
Interview Bookdummypress
Bookdummypress, run by Victor Sira and Shiori Kawasaki, interviewed me about some projects. They have some of the last copies of the first print run of The Gospel of the Photographer in stock now at their bookstore which recently moved to Mana Contemporary.
A Meeting of Books
Some of my recent works will be included in A Meeting of Books and Related Works, opening on April 10 at Johan Deumens Gallery in Amsterdam. The full newsletter can be read here as a pdf.
Elisabeth Tonnard 