whoshotgianniversace:

carlosbaila:

Marina Abramovic meets Ulay

“Marina Abramovic and Ulay started an intense love story in the 70s, performing art out of the van they lived in. When they felt the relationship had run its course, they decided to walk the Great Wall of China, each from one end, meeting for one last big hug in the middle and never seeing each other again. at her 2010 MoMa retrospective Marina performed ‘The Artist Is Present’ as part of the show, a minute of silence with each stranger who sat in front of her. Ulay arrived without her knowing it and this is what happened.”

(via goawaycreepers)

Mémoires by Guy Debord and Asger Jorn.

The insides of this book are beautiful, but the cover of this book is the best thing about it, in my opinion. Bound in sandpaper, it was Debord and Jorn’s intent that the book would damage the books it was placed between every time it was taken off, or placed back on the shelf.

I think this is my favourite book in the National Art Library. When I was a trainee there, I spent a lot of time getting this book out of storage and just staring at it (yeah I know that’s ironic considering the Society of the Spectacle etc, but…). Perfect.

Daniil Kharms: liubovs i smerts

This is another book in the collection at the National Art Library. From their website:

“This extraordinary and unique book object, the title of which translates as ‘Daniil Kharms: love and death’, was created by the artist Sergei Yakunin in Moscow in 1991. It is based on the life and writings of Danill Kharms (1905-1942), an early Soviet-era avant-garde poet, dramatist and writer of children’s books. Kharms was imprisoned during the Stalinist period, dying in captivity during the Siege of Leningrad in 1942. This bookwork is a macabre echo of experiences undergone by Kharms during his lifetime. The work, full of sculptural imagery, scrolls, and moving parts, is almost entirely made of corrugated cardboard, wood and papier mâché and is housed in a silver-painted chest. Within the chest, the main body of the work comprises a large, book-shaped structure with three compartments. The first contains pulleys and bells, the second a series of paper masks, and the third a three-dimensional moving tableau of a torture scene featuring a sculptural human face with arms attached on springs. An elaborate system of pulleys and strings attached to the face and arms can be operated to rotate the ‘eyeballs’ of the victim, accompanied by discordant sounds. Embellished throughout with extracts of writings by Kharms, the work also features two expressionist painted portraits of the writer.”

When I worked as a graduate trainee in this library, every time someone requested this book my heart would sink. Taking it in and out of it’s box was a massive pain in the ass, and I always had horror visions of ripping it up by accident, in front of a reader. Luckily it never happened.

The essay I’m currently writing for Library School is about something I’m really interested in (Artist’s books) but it’s very hard going, and I’m reaching the point where I want to chuck my computer out of the window. The best thing about this essay has been going to the National Art Library at the V&A (I used to work there, it’s great) to look at some amazing artist’s books. I took some photos, and I’m going to post them here.

This book is called ‘Giving Fear A Proper Name: Detroit and it’s by Susan kae Grant.

From the National Art Library website:

This small square book is bound in innocuous looking pink material, the only indication of the sinister content is a small cap-gun on the end of a ribbon for use as a book-mark. The book contains miniature tableaux depicting phobias along with a text relating to the phobia. The depictions use a variety of disturbing materials, such as hair, pins and human teeth. The collaged illustrations have a photographic portrait element, lending them anatomical authority of a distinctly alarming nature. This is a beautifully crafted, deeply disturbing piece.

It’s a beauty. Turning the page and finding a bunch of teeth was a bit of a surprise though.

Book of Nails by Floating Concrete Octopus.

From the catalogue:

The artist has taken a copy of a book entitled “Vincent Van Gogh” and sealed it with two nuts and bolts, passing from the top and bottom of the front edge of its covers, respectively. Both covers are decorated with splashes of red paint and numerous nails, inserted with points facing outwards. The front cover bears a facsimile of Van Gogh’s signature in gold paint, the back cover a torn portrait of Van Gogh, pasted on upside-down. Both signature and portrait are obscured by the nails and the red paint.

It looks like the kind of thing you might make for your art GCSE but it’s interesting nonetheless.