New West Coast Design: Books     
Curators: Mary Austin & Kathleen Burch
In the Gallery Jan 25-Apr 25, 2008     

 

		< Previous | Catalogue | Next > 33 1/3: Off the Record Sandra Liddell Reese | Harry Reese, Edition Reese, Santa Barbara, California www.turkeypress.net 1995 - 2008; Portfolio Edition of 12. Edition Reese produces artist books in collaboration with other artists, writers and thinkers. They incorporate experimental texts and original art, such as monotypes, painting, drawing, and collage. These works feature traditional letterpress printing as well as digital imaging techniques. Harry and Sandra design, print, bind and frequently make paper for their books. As Harry Reese comments in his essay, The Tactility of Artists' Books, "My primary creative work for the past twenty-four years has centered on the imaginative possibilities of the book as a vehicle and container of thought, emotion, communication, and pleasure. During that time I have been directly and indirectly involved in a range of creative projects which include writing and reading poetry, making paper and prints, painting, writing essays, and participating in public art projects. But most importantly, the focus of my work has been on the hand technologies of making limited edition and unique books. "My personal experience of making books by hand, along with the unusual opportunity of teaching the handmade book in the age of electronic reproduction, has allowed me to examine closely one of the most significant artifacts humanity has developed. The book art projects that we patiently controlled by hand production over the years have provided us with a practical learning laboratory in the arts of the book. With each book project we have attempted at least one new design idea or technique - at least it was new to us, whether it was a new binding approach for Sandra or a new printmaking experiment for me." The portfolio was initiated in 1995 from collages, rubbings, drawings, monoprints and paintings made on 33 1/3 vinyl LP records, with found texts sampling Cyrano de Bergerac, Thomas Edison, and Marshall McLuhan as well as anecdotal ruminations by the artist on the joy of using fading technologies in contemporary art. Sandra Liddell Reese designed the exhibition-style binding to incorporate one of the LPs, and to allow for individual pages to be taken out of the book structure and displayed.
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