School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol: 4th March - 4th April Ral Veroni Artists' Books I Jaguares y Cacatuas/ Jaguars and Cockatoos: was Veroni's first artist's book following the publication of a number of poetry fanzines in black and white photocopies. There is a close link between the former work and this book. Argentina, at the time, faced many problems following the hyperinflation of 1989. The author's desire to avoid the restrictions of this situation and to produce a colourful edition led him to use silkscreen as an alternative and economical process of printing. Jaguares y Cacatuas combines texts and images printed using an offset process - popular in Buenos Aires at the time - and silkscreen. In an edition of 250 printed on sugar paper and photocopy paper. Buenos Aires, 1990 La Muestra Nómade/The Nomad Exhibition: was initially a travelling exhibition of self-adhesive stickers installed in public places around the city of Buenos Aires. The 42 cartoon-inspired images focused on socio-political influences in contemporary Argentina such as Rata Autoritaria /Authoritarian Rat (referring to the Military Dictatorship) Malabares Ideológicos / Ideological Juggling (a comment on the untrustworthy nature of politicians) and Esperando la Vacuna / Waiting for the Vaccination (in response to the emergence of AIDS). In a clandestine operation conducted by the artist, his friends and associates, over 2000 stickers were 'exhibited' around Buenos Aires over six months: in elevators, buses, public toilets (including those in museums and galleries) and in homes of 'collectors'. The present artist's book is in its way an exhibition catalogue documenting the designs. The exhibition locations are printed in a black and white notebook enclosed with the book. In an edition of 80. Printed in silkscreen. Buenos Aires, 1991   
Narcisismo y Emblema/Narcissism and Emblem: after 'La Muestra Nomade' Ral Veroni returned to his work in painting. This book, about the narcissism of a painter and the symbols that he chooses to represent himself, was created as a result of this new research. Narcisismo y Emblema was intended as the catalogue of an exhibition which in fact never took place. Printed on silkscreen on conqueror verge of 200 and 130 gr. In an edition of 300. Buenos Aires, 1993 La Zarza Ardiendo/The Burning Bramble: After work on a number of other public and political projects Ral Veroni made this bibliophile book in association with Argentinian poet Marta Sabella, combining M.S. handwritten texts and R.V. images. Printed on silkscreen on Conqueror Verge 220 and 130 gr. In an edition of 139. Buenos Aires, 1995 Vacuum: with Veroni's appointment as printmaker- in- residence at the Tamarind Institute, Albuquerque, USA,1996, came a move away from the explicitly public nature of previous works. Vacuum is an edition of 10 lithographic portfolios, and stands, by contrast, as a personal and introspective work. Printed on a luxury Japanese Inomache Nacre paper. Interim: this single book, printed in silkscreen and mono screenprint, was conceived as a sketchbook for a future suit of larger prints. Bound by the artist using a Coptic system. Printed on Velin Arches of 270 gr. Bristol, UK, 1997.   Itinerario/Itinerary: in 1997, Ral Veroni became British Council Fellow at the University of the West of England Print Centre where he embarked on Itinerario an edition of 98 English/75 Spanish artist's books, produced as typeset, single-colour texts on Japanese Kawanaka paper and Ingres Zerkall. It can be described it as a delineation of the artist's hopes and disappointments in art. Itinerario precipitated an emotional journey for Veroni: having spent his childhood observing his father's production of typeset books, the experience of working with this process became a reliving of fond memories. Although, due to illness, Veroni's father was unable to pass on his skills directly, watching him at work strongly influenced his son's choice of profession. Sophie: as with Vacuum, Sophie deliberately avoids combining text with images and the colophon provides only the briefest indication as to its subject: 'in its way, a love story'. The transparent sheets, printed on both sides, build up images which unfold and alter with each turn of the page and the story becomes a work which gains order through its viewing. With the production of Sophie, it was a moved from traditional print techniques to experiment with electronic media. Printed using inkjet onto Transmarque White Cloud paper. In an edition of 15. Bristol, UK, 1998 Lucha por la Vida/Struggle for Life: was made at the Women' Studio Workshop with a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. The book has 30 screen-prints on paper currency removed from circulation due to hyper-inflation in Third World countries. The intent is to examine human relationship to money, both as an object and as a denomination of value, looking at the gravity and importance with which it is regarded it. The banknotes are inserted in plastic sleeves. The origin of the banknotes differs in each book, making each of them a unique copy in form and content. Introductory and explanatory inkjet printed texts by Ral Veroni in both in English and Spanish accompany the artworks. Cloth and illustrated paper over board covers with hidden screws and post binding. Size: 15.5 x 24.5 cms. 88 pages. New York, 2000. Edition of 40 Struggle For Life: This pocket edition is a smaller version of the book of the same name, made in New York the previous year. The book reproduces images of the complete series of 30 banknotes inkjet printed on Somerset Book 175 gm. Paper. The last page is a plastic sleeve, which holds one original screen-printed banknote (as opposed to the larger book which holds 30 original banknotes) 11.2 x 17cm. 18 pages. English version only with a glossary of terms and introduction to the titles from Spanish. Glasgow, 2001. Edition of 200 Buenos Aires: This artist's book holds the whole series of 22 digital photographs under the same name. Ink-jet printed on 167 gm. Epson Matte paper and bound as a postcard portfolio, the pages are held in an envelope which slips into the cover box. Bilingual edition English-Spanish, with brief introduction and a three-part folded index page (total size 16.5 x 39 cm). Size: 13.5 x 17 cm. 52 pages. Glasgow, 2002. Edition of 50. Glasgow: Holds a series of 22 digital photographs, ink-jet printed on Epson Matte 167 gm. paper. As with Buenos Aires -its twin edition- it is bound as a postcard portfolio, the pages are held by an envelope which slips into the cover box. Bilingual edition English-Spanish, with a structure of symbols as introduction and a three-part folded page with poems by RV (total size 16.5 x 39 cm). Size: 13.5 x 17 cm. 52 pages. Glasgow, 2002. Edition of 50. Links to sites containing Ral Veroni's works: www.csupomona.edu/~kellogg_gallery/critics/veroni.html www.canvas-art.nl/start.html www.veroni.fsnet.co.uk/ www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/Art/artistsbooks/Politics.html www.sl-photoworks.demon.co.uk/archive/veroni/veroni.html |
Artists' book event at the CFPR School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol: April 2003 Massachusetts College of Art, Boston, USA, for the Southern Graphics Council Printmaking Conference Making Histories: Revolution and Representation, The History Book That Never Was History (n.) Continuous methodical record, in order of time, of important or public events: study of formation and growth of communities and narrations; whole train of events connected with particular country, person, thing etc. past events in general, course of human affairs.1 For this project: The History Book That Never Was, twenty-seven artists who work within the field of artists' books were invited to contribute an artwork on paper, creating a visual description of a book that was never made. The premise of this project was not for the artists to physically create a book, but to describe its essence and any alternative historical impact it would have made if it had existed. Allowing for a contribution in either text or image format, each artist was asked to use only one sheet of letter size paper to depict their imaginary book. The events described had to be fictitious, but could be based on any aspect of history (large or small) that the artist cared to invent or re-present from an alternative perspective. The artists' contributions ranged from descriptions of ancient mythical gardens and codices to the discovery of lost appendices or publications by famous historical characters, some took a more personal view of their own history whilst others considered the political state of current world affairs. World conflict, in particular the onset of the Iraq crisis during the turn of 2003 has influenced some of the artists to imagine an alternative to current and past political situations as their contribution. Fixing Things; A Memoir of World Revolution by Marshall Weber has a plot worthy of Jack Bauer from the television series 24. Colonel Bradford Devol is recorded as leading the assassination team that despatched both Yasser Arafat and Tony Blair before going 'native' and leading four members of his team back to the USA for a campaign of "fixing things" (the term used by special forces when covering up covert operations and mistakes). In Weber's text, the year 2004 brought about the uncovering by Devol of a worldwide war crimes conspiracy involving major international figures and the unsolved disappearance of the Bush family. In Chris Taylor's World War II alternative, Hitler's campaign for the domination of Europe never materialised. Lebensraum has the young Adolph Schickelgrüber passing an entrance exam to the Vienna Academy of Art, pursuing his interest in interior design and going on to invent a revolutionary system of mobile housing units - based on a democratic distribution of land with a social policy of housing for all. The mobile unit's capability for relocation according to transient work opportunities allowed Europeans to move around freely, thus negating the reasoning behind any empire building.     The interweaving of historical fact and fiction in some novels can offer the reader an alternative interpretation of the lives of recognisable characters; Ned Kelly in Peter Carey's The True History of the Kelly Gang 2 or the Brothers Grimm in Grimm's Last Fairytales by Haydn Middleton 3. The characters assume the identity presented by the author and the reader is left with a new perspective on the subject's life and the reasons for their actions (whether historically correct or not) which influence the way in which we, as receivers of this alternative viewpoint, re-examine opinions that were previously taken for granted as the true 'story.' Conor Lucey's Marco Polo: Description of the World Appendix 1 has Polo visiting the Bamiyan River valley to see the Buddhas of Bamiyan (which were destroyed by the Taliban in 2001). The passage offers a poetic description of the Buddhas and their former adornments of painted robes and balas rubies, with the largest containing a system of ladders and stairways that reach the top of the statue, affording a view of the whole valley. Later, the "niche of the great statue is lit by candles made from butter, creating an effect of a vast apparition in the clear night skies." Also referred to in the appendix, a third figure "in a somnolent pose, is also said to have been fashioned at the same time, but no trace of it exists." Lucey's text places Polo as travelling to the plateau region in Afghanistan and encountering the Vedic mathematicians, which we accept as historical fact, but now there is a creeping doubt, were there really only two Buddhas, or were there three as detailed in this passage? In Foucault's Pendulum 4 Bembo describes the Manutius Publishing Company's brilliant swindle to fleece the unsuspecting SFA's (self-financing authors) by leading them to believe that their book is actually printed in a large run before they later succumb to buying up the 'remaindered' stock to save it from pulping. Of course, as the reader knows, the book has only been printed in a tiny run, has not been bound and therefore cannot occupy any valuable storage space in the non-existent warehouse. In a similar conundrum of 'Catch 22' proportions. The Book (Kirsten Lavers / Cris Cheek) cannot exist until every other book in time has existed, as it is the book that consists of one page from every book that ever existed "THE BOOK that makes all other books immortal." But if the future is still to come and more books are yet to be made, then it can never be bound until all the other books have been bound, and if it has not been bound then it cannot become the book that it purports to be. It is impossible for the book to exist unless time stops, but if this happens it will not get the chance to be bound as a book in order to exist. Library records provided an inspiration for two of the artists involved in this project. Andrew Eason wrote a letter describing a catalogue entry for a 'lost' book that had possibly been produced by a local historical forger and poet called Chatterton. The entry in the catalogue of special items details the book as a recording of a fifteenth Century garden that included a maze representing a map of the world and its inhabitants. The topiary has been sculpted into figures portraying "Europe, Africa, Asia and the two Americas," but most curious of all is the last statue: " The figure's arm is outstretched, and in his hand there is a detailed model of a city of concentric plan…The model includes several distinct buildings in a fanciful architectural style unknown to me…it has been suggested to me that this figure as described in the original work, represents the land and people of the island of Atlantis, which I would dismiss out of hand were it not for the equally baffling inclusion of the Americas…" Carinna Parraman's piece takes the form of an account 'overheard in a London café' where a registrar at the British Library has found extra, un-catalogued items after the library has been relocated to the new building near St Pancras Station. The extra item was boxed and sealed, with any cracks or holes taped over and contained a treatise on the subject of shadows from 1870-1900, along with several photographs and a series of sealed envelopes. The footnotes refer to notes by Dr Clare Obscura on the clinical removal of shadows from those who had cast them: "After removal of shadows, many of the patients showed signs of mental instability, cats and dogs were observed to spend many hours chasing tails and human subjects could be observed walking on cracks in the pavement, jumping out at street corners or suddenly twisting round. Many were delivered to the asylum." Other contributions included Sue Doggett's correspondence between Felix and Fanny Mendelssohn which uncovers Fanny's musical genius, and Alec Finlay's book cover for Ludwig Wittgenstein's Norway Notebooks, which has Wittgenstein making the trip to Norway and writing the last of his manuscripts there. All of the individual contributions from this project have been loaded onto the UWE website here so they can printed out to allow you to assemble your own choice of history book. The authors who deliver their books to the un-named custodian in Richard Brautigan's novel The Abortion (1970) know that whatever their creations are, they will be accepted into the library. It is enough for the authors to know that their books are held there, even though they will never be published or read by a wider audience. The "books" depicted for this project may not exist in a traditional sense but they give the viewer a chance to imagine the difference that a little event in book history can make. Sarah Bodman April 2003 Notes: 1. Definition taken from The Reader's Digest Great Encyclopaedic Dictionary, 1964, Oxford. 2. The True History of the Kelly Gang, Peter Carey, Faber and Faber, 2000, London. 3. Grimm's Last Fairytales, Haydn Middleton, Abacus, 1999, London. 4. Foucault's Pendulum, Umberto Eco, 1988, Phaidon, London Participating artists:
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Exhibition in the Artists' books display area at the Library School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol: March 2003 Trans-Atlantic Book Trafficking An exchange exhibition of artists' books from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and the Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) at the Faculty of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol. The exhibition runs concurrently at the two universities throughout March 2003. The images shown are from the exhibition of Tennessee books here. The University of Tennessee: Dori Griffin, Matthew Carroll, Melanie Norword, Robyn McDaniel, Joyce McLain, Brian Daniels, Joey Ciccoline, Chrissy Will, Chad Burnette, Quantal Longford. Centre for Fine Print Research (CFPR) UWE, Bristol: Eilis Kirby, Cecilia Mandrile, Carinna Parraman, Melanie Ward, Imi Maufe, Andrew Eason, David Kirby, Sarah Bodman, Tom Sowden, Jenny Sowden, Paul Laidler, Andrew Atkinson.                 
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Exhibition in the Artists' books display area at the Library & Artists' book launch at the CFPR School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol: 3rd February- 3rd March Deb Rindl Recent works Night Flier I am always struck by a certain beauty in the symmetry of palindromes. In this Ancient Roman example, I found the poetic quality of the English translation particularly evocative. It conveyed to me notions of being cleansed and reborn, which I feel I must be prepared for to move on in life, even though sometimes this can be painful. Printed laserjet. Edition of 30, 2002 A Recipe for Disaster This bookwork is a response to the current conflict in Afghanistan. From the perspex container in the shape of a stealth bomber come forth a bomb and two smaller bomblets. The bomblets are constructed of 'pages' spelling out 'Collateral Damage' whilst the main bomb contains the nub of the message in its text. This is punctuated by bullet points, some being bomb-shaped, some like tears. The whole piece is carried in a grey card box reminiscent of an attractive sweet box, just as the cluster bombs being spread around Afghanistan are designed to resemble toys, to appeal to children and encourage them to be picked up. The results, of course, are disastrous. Photocopied and printed inkjet. Edition of 35, 2002 Elementary Thoughts A celebration of the four elements, incorporating text and monoprinting. Text printed laserjet. Contained in a matching card slipcase. Edition of 20, 2002   
The Human Chain A multi-layered book of connections exploring events during the last two millennia in parallel with the fundamental essence of life - DNA. The common thread in both of these is their unchanging quality. Sometimes it seems that our only advance in twenty centuries is in the sophistication of the weaponry we use to dominate and kill each other. The technological aspect of modern life is underlined further when the book is held in its cover, thus resembling a slide under inspection in a microscope. Photocopied and handwritten. Edition of 15, 2000 Shakespeare's Rainbow It occurred to me that the universal range of emotions in many of Shakespeare's plays can be represented by different colours. Having made the connection between colour and emotion I could see a rainbow of feeling in this concertina book. Hand-coloured and written. Edition of 30, 2000   
Exercise Book A simple three-dimensional pun. At first glance this seems to be just a small version of a traditional exercise book but on further inspection the cuts and folds reveal a series of physical exercises. Printed letterpress. Edition of 35, 2000 Times Square Concertina book containing cut-outs based on a two times table. Designed in the early part of 2001, it has now become topical rather than merely an observation, being reminiscent of the grid design of New York streets and of the skyscrapers to be found there. Edition of 18, 2001 The Bookmaker A piece about the essence of a book, made from one sheet of A2 paper. This was made specially for the 'Inside Cover' exhibition curated by the University of the West of England (UWE) which is currently on tour around the UK and USA. Printed offset litho and hand-folded. Edition of 150, 2000 |
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Artists' books display area at the Library &
Artists' book launch at the CFPR School of Art, Media and Design, UWE Bristol: 17th December - 31st January Andrew Eason 'Interpreter - Artists' Books 1999-2002' Artists' books have become the vehicle of choice for me to explore and communicate my ideas. They have several aspects unique to the form which I've found of enormous interest. For one, they have identities which mark them out as somewhat self contained. Books in an exhibition are discrete artistic objects in a way that (say) a painting arguably isn't. (Such a painting is part of its exhibition.) Each book has an inner logic, an encapsulated set of values that I find satisfying. Yet the books are not isolated from each other. One book relates to another in the usual art-formal ways, but also, because of their bookishness, the books suggest relationships in a scholarly sense. I like this, because of the way it chimes with the way I research and produce my books. This in a sense is the larger-scale for me: if I see my books as a group, they are forming a library, a body of research. Another aspect of artists' books is their innate capability to deal coherently with complex narrative form. Again, this chimes with my intentions and mode of producing the books. It's my usual practice to start with a given text or resource: a poem, event, a set of pictures, a word. The text has its own modes and rhythms which I try to identify and understand. When I research a book what I'm looking for are the chinks of individuality in my sources: the departures from form, the coincidences, the offhand comments, the suggestive etymology... I'll reply to these researches in time, producing images, writing, exploring the background to the text. As I work, the data begins to form around the "chinks" I mentioned earlier. Thus, a single line from the Anglo-Saxon poem "The Battle of Maldon" became the book "Tiercel" A Chinese painting of a horse in the Metropolitan Museum of Art gathered diverse materials from astrology to personal history, all because of a particular interpretation of another painting contemporary with it, and became the book "Night-Shining White". |
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| I'm continuing to work in this manner
on new books, but I'm being drawn increasingly towards work which
involves more than one book, and books which work in conjunction with
other media. To that end I've begun researches and collaborations
which I hope to resolve into exhibitions involving a handful of different
books on a central theme, accompanied by various digital media. I'm
as interested in the contradictions as I am in the harmonies that
such an array would produce. When I mention my interest in seeing
my books as a "library", as a body of research, I am signalling my
interest in the contradictory characteristics of history. Books are discrete, yet never isolated. They purport to be sufficient in themselves, but they never really are. I find the same things in my original sources. My artist's books are the product of a mission of individual interpretation. 'The Remembrancer', a new book by Andrew Eason will also be launched in the Print Centre on: Tuesday 17th December, 5 - 7pm. 2002 You can contact Andrew Eason at: e-mail: andreweason@hotmail.com or to see more of his work, visit Andrew's website at:www.andreweason.com
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