Here is another beautifully constructed book from Claire Van Vliet’s Janus Press. Beauty in Use is a book of poetry by Sandra McPherson, her third collaboration with Janus Press. Each poem is accompanied by a colorful and complex paper quilt. The book is assembled and bound without the use of adhesives.
Ruins or Books recently relocated to the west coast, which gave us an opportunity to attend The Projects Festival in its second installment. Among many great discoveries there was the work of Veronica Graham, who is one half of the small press Most Ancient.
This is LODE, an interpretation of Nevada’s land use patterns during the boom and bust cycles of the late 19th century. Repeated symbols that represent various conditions and uses of the landscape are printed onto vellum, so that flipping through the pages mimics an excavation of the layers of the land’s history.
Other works of interest by Graham include this print of Oakland’s Lake Merritt and The Map of Neighboring Territories accordion book, much reminiscent of our other favorite accordion book artist Warja Lavater.
All things Graham are available in the Most Ancient shop.
Here’s an odd and unexpected delight from John Dilnot. White Poplars is a simple “one idea” book that would be at home in Various Small Books, a recent ode to Ed Ruscha from the MIT Press. This one is a collection of photographs of graffitied and scarred poplar trees in Alicante, Spain, bound as accordian books in corrugated cardboard. 2 similar volumes in a slip case, edition of 500, inkjet and rubber stamps.
The item is available from the artist’s site. Take a look around because he has a handful of artists’ books divided across two pages: “Little Books” and “Bigger Books“.
And just in case you are as curious as we were, yes, you can see these same trees in Google Street View.
