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Artists' Books

A guide to accessing the artists' books collection at the ECU Library. Includes a blog about books in the collection and thematic reading lists

Collection Highlight | What If: Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design by Maria Lind

by Keimi Nakashima on 2021-04-30T15:27:02-07:00 | 0 Comments

Today’s artists’ book collection highlight is What If: Art on the Verge of Architecture and Design. This box book accompanied an exhibition by ten contributing artists at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 2000.  The publication was compiled by curator Maria Lind and further “filtered” by UK artist Liam Gillick. What If (interestingly titled Tan̈k Om or “Thank You” in Swedish) is an exploration, trying to place contemporary visual art practices in the language/format of architecture and design.

The artists' book What If by Marie Lind on a white background. The book is a box book, and the photo is taken from directly above, so the book appears as a simple blue rectangle, with no visible pages. The cover of the book, the lid of the box, is embossed in ornate text. The left side of the rectangle, from bottom to top reads "What if." The right side of the rectangle, mirrored, reads "Tänk om." On the top left hand corner of the rectangle, upside-down, small text reads "Moderna Museet | Stockholm." A closeup photo of the artist's book by Maria Lind on a white background. On the left side of the photo, the box that holds the pages of the book can be seen, partially out of frame. The box has a blue lid and a bright yellow base. On the right side of the photo, the pages of the book are loosely stacked. The pages contain several different images and illustrations in different colours. Yellow, orange, red, and blue are the most predominant colours on the visible pages. The top page on the stack contains images of gridded spheres in different sizes and shades of yellow on a blue background. The pages of What If separated into two piles, with the pages oriented in landscape, and the piles laying flat on a white background. The page visible on the stack at the top of the image, has a white background with irregular yellow shapes, and black and blue text on top. At the centre of the page, diagonally, large text reads "What if" in black text with a top layer of clue text that is warped and appears to be peeling from the black text. Just above the "What if" warped and curved text reads "art on the verge of architecture and design." To the right of this, black text, vertically across the page reads "Moderna Museet | Modern Museum." On the bottom left corner of this top page, another section of very small text reads "'What if' consists of three different parts: an exhibition, three informal symposia - or rather, a 'listen-in' in the exhibition, and a publication. The listen-ins involve artists, architects, designers, city planners, media people, etc. The publication, designed by the artist Pae White, consists of a set of posters. It will function as part of the exhibition rather than as a reflection of it." The page visible on the stack atet he bottom of the photo, has a white background and several different size circles on it. The circles are mostly blue, orange, and yellow, filling almost all of the page. The circles are translucent and the areas in which the circles overlap turn into different shades of green, blue and purple. Another spread of pages from What If on a white background. This time, the stacks of pages are placed in portrait, not landscape. The page visible on the left stack shows a blurry, upside-down, double exposure image of a gallery space. The floor of the space, at the top of this photo, has multicoloured lines moving at different angles throughout the floor of the space. The ceiling of the space is white with several white lights. The walls are also white, but most of them are covered in repeating images. On top of the image, there is a small brown circle with a "30" in it. On the page visible on the stack on the left, there are 3 images cut into long, thin, triangles, resembling coniferous trees. The image on the bottom shows a person's feet, with black shoes and a black skirt on a colourful striped floor, very similar to the one on the page on the left. Scattered across this cropped triangular image, are small green circles slightly varying in size with the number "13" in them. The second image cut into a thin triangle is a brown-skinned hand with long fingers, resting on a white and green surface that resembles fabric or paper. On top of this image, there are three dark-blue circles slightly varying in size, with the number "13" in them. The third image, shows a room with beige walls, and a small ladder. On top of this image, two small brown circles are visible, with the number "23" in them. Beside this third image, there is a blue-grey illustration that is a vertical line with several horizontal lines going across it, that get longer and thicker as they move downward. The illustration also resembles a coniferous tree. These triangles and the drawing are on a pale grey background, with four large asterisks spread across the page.  Another spread of pages from the book at hand. The pages in this photo are orientated in portrait, like the last photo. The left image shows a dim room with a large screen, and a framed photo on the wall. The screen in the image shows a large field at nighttime, with a tree-shaped structure holding several lit forms that are different colours, resembling paper lanterns. The framed image on the wall shows a person wearing a sweater and dark pants, holding a bar across their shoulders and smiling, glancing off to the side. At the bottom of the page, a small purple circle with the number "21" in it is visible. The left page is filled by a digital drawing that doesn't entirely fit on the page. The page is upside down in the photo and appears to depict a wide and low building. The drawing mainly has blue and green sections, with a few rectangles near the bottom of the page being outlined in thin orange lines, and with three long rectangles that are a pale yellow colour, contrasting the blues of the drawing and resembling a glowing light at nighttime. Pale blue text at the bottom of the page, upside-down, reads "im Islermann." A photo showing the pages of what if, stacked, and a large poster that is the length of two pages. Both the poster and the stack of pages are orientated in the landscape in this photo. The poster, at the top of the photo, depicts a hand-drawn t-shirt outlined in brown. On the shirt there is a brown, orange, and green asymmetrical grid. around the grid and the rest of the shirt, there are swirls and scribbles in blobs of paint or ink visible in the same colours seen throughout the drawing. Below the drawing, painted text reads "STICKING - 1997." Above and to the right of the drawing on the t-shirt, there is handwriting addressed to Maria. The handwriting is quick and tight cursive that is difficult to read, but it appears to be in Swedish. At the bottom of the photo, the rest of the pages of the books are stacked. The page sitting on the top of this stack has dozens of circles on a white background. The circles vary in size and appear in various colours, including blue, grey, orange, yellow, and red. The circles are translucent and tightly clustered in a circular form around the centre of the page, creating a dark, wreath-like shape of blues, purples, and greens. Bright blue text over the civvies reads "Gunilla Klingberg."

Read more about the exhibition this book was a part of, here: https://www.modernamuseet.se/stockholm/en/exhibitions/what-if/

Publication Date: 2000

Accession Number: ECUAD.103458426

You can place this book on hold, to come view it at the library, here. 

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