Posts Tagged ‘“artist book”’
The End of the World
“A child without mother or father, with no brothers or sisters, who belonged to no one and had no home anywhere, came to the idea of running off, all the way until the end of the world.” Robert Walser, from ‘The End of the World’
My “Robert Walser book” (as some of you may have come to know it) has finally been finished and copies are now ready to be shipped. Both conceptually and practically it was a book journey full of detours and stops and restarts. Starting with an observation at the site of Robert Walser’s grave, after retracing his last walk – or perhaps already with a Robert Walser storybook I received as a child – it did take a while to get to the end of the world (not to worry: things are simpler there).
The End of the World is an artist book in literary format about Robert Walser’s final walks and silences. The book transports the reader to the last 23 years of Walser’s life, which were spent at a psychiatric clinic in Herisau, Switzerland. From his arrival there in 1933 to his death in the snow on Christmas Day 1956, Walser ceased writing. On Sundays he would take long walks, a contrast to the weekdays filled with sorting tin foil at the institution’s workshop and making crossword puzzles in the common room.
The book draws on excerpts from Walser’s asylum file and on photographs that I took at the graveyard in Herisau where Walser is buried. The photographs show scenes depicted on the gravestones surrounding Walser’s grave. The dreamy landscapes and paths encountered there seemed like a continuance of Robert Walser’s walk to me. The layout of the book mirrors the repetitive nature of Walser’s days, weeks, years at the clinic – and blank space is treated as a meaningful element.
The book concludes with an afterword, overview of sources and biographical sketch.
The initial research was made possible by a residency at the Jan Michalski Foundation, in Montricher, Switzerland. The book production was made possible in part by grants from the Jaap Harten Fund and from the Mondriaan Fund, both in Amsterdam.
The book is self-published in an edition of 350 copies. It is printed in duotone offset and has a cold-glue binding. Printing and binding were done at Wilco Art Books in The Netherlands. 208 pages, size 11,5 x 18 cm, 23 photographs. ISBN: 9789080788435.
Priced at € 37,50. Shipping is € 5,- in The Netherlands, € 8,50 elsewhere. Order here or by contacting me, also of course with your questions and comments.
Further info on this page.
Earth Station launches with AMBruno in London
I am happy to announce my new book Earth Station, made as part of AMBruno’s project ‘Intervals’ which will launch at Tate Britain in London this week (see below).
The book uses intervals between images found on postcards from the 1950s and 1960s, when mass tourism began to grow, as a playful method of critique – creating brief visual stories about how humans changed nature. See more images here (though because of the intervals, this book needs to be held in hand: without intervals there is no story).
Edition limited to 50 copies (not numbered), inkjet printed and wire bound. 40 pages, 14 full color illustrations, size 21,5 cm wide x 17,2 cm high.
Priced at € 45 plus shipping. Order through my webshop or by sending an email. If ordering, note that the book will be shipped as of next week. The book will also be available at the multiple book fairs AMBruno participates in during 2024/5.
This Friday October 18, AMBruno will present an afternoon of talks at Tate Britain around ‘Intervals’. A panel conversation with AMBruno artists and past project selectors, including Gustavo Grandal Montero, Elizabeth James, Sophie Loss, Richard Price, Chris Taylor and Cally Trench, will discuss ‘Intervals’ in the context of the group’s history. Follow this link for the details. It is free to visit this.
Next week, AMBruno will also show the project at the Small Publisher’s Fair in Conway Hall (October 25 and 26). Yay!
About AMBruno
The artists’ association AMBruno focuses on developing and promoting the book as a key medium in art. Founded in 2008, the group’s members change with each new project, where artists create books based on a specific theme each year.
In 2024, an open call invited artists to create books exploring the theme ‘Intervals.’ This could refer to an intervening time, a pause or break, a gap between two things, or the difference in pitch between two sounds. Fourteen artists were selected for this project by Sarah Bodman, an artist and scholar from the Centre for Print Research at UWE Bristol. The artists are Karen Blake, Helen Douglas, David Howes, Julie Johnstone, Philip Lee, Sophie Loss, John McDowall, Alastair Noble, Redell Olsen, Ximena Pérez Grobet, Peter Rapp, Rachel Smith, Elisabeth Tonnard and Maria White.
The Power of the Powerless
Not a book but a gesture.
In my work I have explored white spaces since 2003 as a method to suggest rather than erase. Even if the suggestion was that the omnipresent Plan may be empty.
I have been struck by the recent street protests in China in which blank sheets of paper are used to defy censorship. The sheets serve effortlessly to indicate everything that should be expressed. Something so small, simple, and yet universal.
The title of The Power of the Powerless is a reference to Václav Havel’s essay of that same title. It speaks of the power that those who are not in power have through simply no longer living (as if) in obedience to the system. No longer “doing” the lies. Something relevant not only in totalitarian states but wherever system tries to dominate life and replace actual experience. The blank of this paper can never be totally contained by those who want to control it.
Published in Leerdam, The Netherlands, December 2022.
Free to enjoy as an idea.
For those who find themselves inclined to purchase:
Edition limited to 40 numbered copies.
12 x 19 cm cover, handmade, inkjet printed, with in it a loose blank A4 sheet.
Priced at € 50,- plus shipping. Order through the webshop or by email. Please note orders will be taken in December but shipped out in January. If you need to get it sooner please email me and we can arrange that.
Week of the Artist Book + symposium
From October 13 to 20 the ‘Week of the Artist Book’ will take place in Groningen. It is organized by Stichting ARTisBOOK. During the week 25 galeries, museums, bookshops and cultural institutes will celebrate the artist book and its development from the 1960s to now through exhibitions, workshops, talks, signings etc. More information (in Dutch) about the week is available here.
Exhibition at Noorderlicht
As part of this week my work The Plan will be exhibited at Noorderlicht. Noorderlicht will also show work by Wil van Iersel, Jan van der Til, Anouk Kruithof, Carina Hesper en Jan Dirk van der Burg. This show will continue beyond the week, until November 4.
Location: Noorderlicht – Huis van de Fotografie, Akerkhof 12, Groningen.
Hours: Wednesdays-Sundays from 12.00 to 18.00.
Admission is €4,- (€2,- for students). Note: at the ARTisBOOKshop (see below) you can get free entree tickets.
Symposium
On October 19 I’ll be a speaker at the ARTisBOOK symposium. This will take place at the university library of Rijksuniversiteit Groningen. Detailed information is available in this pdf. The symposium is free to attend. Register here before October 12.
Exhibition at Academie Minerva
At Academie Minerva An Empty Field and Enduring Freedom will be shown in the exhibition ‘Provo! Fluxus! Verzet!’ curated by Barthold Boksem.
Location: Praediniussingel 59, Groningen.
Bookshop
During the week several of my titles will be for sale at the ARTisBOOKshop.
Location: Pelsterstraat 27-29, Groningen.
Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday 10.00–18.00
Sunday and Monday 13.00–18.00
Thursday 10.00-20.00
An Empty Field – a total home run
I got a standing ovation. In fact, they said it was the biggest standing ovation since Peyton Manning had won the Super Bowl and they said it was equal. I got a standing ovation. It lasted for a long period of time. What you do is take — take out your tape — you probably ran it live. I know when I do good speeches. I know when I do bad speeches. That speech was a total home run. They loved it.
Donald Trump referencing his address to the CIA (ABC News, January 25, 2017).
The book has arrived from the printer. For more information, visit this page.
An Empty Field
Some great and very very special words.
This book is my complete transcript of President Trump’s address to employees of the CIA the day after his inauguration. To keep in style, the text is cut into bits of 140 or fewer characters. Until the um amazing printing is done, and it’s going to be really great, you can find a digital version here.
B&w digital printing, paperback, size 12.5 x 19 cm, 96 pages.
Priced at €14, plus shipping. Pre-order now through my webshop or through email.
Published in Leerdam, The Netherlands on January 23, 2017.
The Plan
I’m happy to announce my new book titled The Plan.
My interest in white space in texts and fascination for printed materials and propaganda books from East Germany brought me to discover the Plan. The Plan is the chameleonic directive to every situation of societal life – whether it is playing sports, writing a book, or practicing for war. Always think of the Plan. Better yet: always have it in your hand.
The Plan consists of a book and a folder, together forming one object. The book contains 26 pictures reproduced from miniature books published in the German Democratic Republic during the 1980s. Each book is accompanied by an original, pre-owned GDR folder, each different and individually obtained from households in the former state. The folder comes with a foldout sheet of the Plan.
Edition of 150 copies, numbered.
Digital print, full color paperback, A5 size, 48 pages. Plus original GDR folder, A4 size, with a folded and stamped A2 sheet.
See more images of the book here.
Priced at € 45,- plus shipping. Order through the webshop or by email. The book will also be available at my table at the upcoming NY Art Book Fair.
If you really want to understand what the GDR was about, you need to look at The Plan.
Joachim Schmid
New book: The Death of the Poet
This literary artist book excerpts texts from the biographies of nineteen different poets to fabricate one single, time and space crossing, remarkable story.
B&w digital printing, paperback, size 13 x 19 cm, 48 pages.
Edition of 125 copies, not numbered.
Priced at €24, plus shipping. Available now through my webshop or through email.
See more images on this page.
The book will be launched at Offprint London taking place at Tate Modern from May 20-22. You can find it at the table I am sharing with Joachim Schmid.
New book: Joachim Schmid Works
Thirty-three photographs of Joachim Schmid working on his E-Book.*
Joachim Schmid is well-known for his work with other people’s photographs. It is less known, or even unknown, that he takes the camera to hand himself sometimes. This little book documents just that and thereby provides a so far unseen aspect of Joachim Schmid’s practice. We get a glimpse of the artist’s movements in the age of lcd-screens and in addition to that a portrait of the streets that write to us.
Full color digital printing, sewn paperback, size 10.5 x 15 cm, 44 pages. Edition of 75 copies, not numbered.
Priced at €24, plus shipping. Available now through my webshop or through email.
The book will be launched at Offprint London taking place at Tate Modern from May 20-22. You can find it at the table I am sharing with Joachim.
* E-Book was published in February of 2016 and is based on a letter Joachim wrote to me. The words of this letter remain invisible in his book but every E is included in the form of a photograph. The various E’s, almost 500 of them, were photographed in a number of different cities during 2015. There is no digital version of the book.
Exhibition ‘The Library’ in Groningen
On January 16 my exhibition ‘The Library’ opens at Galerie Block C in Groningen. The opening is at 4 PM and the show will run until February 27.
The Library consists of a series of eight archival pigment ink prints and a small bookwork in an edition of 150 copies.
The images in it are tiny selections from pictures in a catalogue documenting the losses of the Gemäldegalerie at the Kaiser Friedrich Museum, the present-day Bode Museum, in Berlin during and after World War II. The Gemäldegalerie lost over four hundred paintings, the sculpture collection at the museum lost about a third of its holdings. Photographic documentation and plaster casts remain as ghostly echoes of what was once there. The majority of losses occurred in the days just before and after the end of the war in May 1945 when two devastating fires in the Friedrichshain flak tower destroyed most of the major works of art that had been stored there for safekeeping. The cause of the fires was never explained and has become the subject of legend. Trapped in there were the paintings these images refer to. Out of the smoke we think up this library of unknown books.
In the exhibition at Galerie Block C there will also be a selection of my artist’s books that appropriate literary works on view, as well as the first trials of a new project titled The Death of the Poet.
Elisabeth Tonnard 