Al-Mutanabbi Street - a vicious circle
Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck, Denmark
| Al-Mutanabbi Street
- a vicious circle; Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck,
Thisted, Denmark, February 2013 Baghdad was once founded and built in a circular way and its name at the time was: Madinat al-Salaam or 'City of Peace'. This has a sad irony now - and, being a child of the early 1970's, I only associated Baghdad with death and war - rather than peace - from watching so many television news reports. From the outside the conflict feels never-ending - with no resolution in sight - a tragic vicious circle. This book represents that but is also a tribute to Al Mutanabbi Street - a street where thoughts and ideas were - and are - exchanged in book form. Dimensions: w: 20cm h: 20cm d: 0.7cm; Medium: Laser engraved covers onto grey boards, inkjet printed text and hand-cut illustrations. Papers: Fabriano Accademia, white 200gsm & 160gsm. Binding: pamphlet stitched. The working trademark of Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck is cutting into paper to create artists' books; using the physical structure of the piece to direct the reader through a narrative sequence. Indeed storytelling, typography, image-making - and the influence of light on material structure - are all vital to her work. She has exhibited her work internationally since 2000 and it is represented in more than 20 public collections on three continents. The themes of her books vary from the silly to the serious, all directed by an overall interest in humanity and our shared existence. mette.ambeck@gmail.com www.ambeckdesign.blogspot.com |