Textfield, Inc. » Book Works

Collected Writings: 1993–2003

Textfield — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 04:18:11 +0000

Frances Stark, Collected Writing: 1993–2003
Softcover, 160 pp., offset 4/1, 215 x 280 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN: 978-1-870699-63-1
Published by Book Works

$49.00 · out of stock

This book brings together many of Stark’s texts for the first time, including essays on artists and text pieces. Stark’s writing is not specifically sited in visual art, but is rooted in the condition of contemporary life, encountering along the way literary tradition, music and philosophy. These provide the backbone to much of her thinking, as do the problems faced by being both an artist and writer today. These themes are presented through a pseudo-autobiographical style that frequently presents itself as poetic musings, creating meandering, off-centred texts that are often humorous and at the same time highly readable.

This book also includes facsimiles of “The Unspeakable Compromise of the Portable Work of Art” as well as specially designed pages by Stark, making this anthology a fascinating insight into the artist’s practice. Includes a forward by Matthew Higgs.

Rex Reason (solid gaseous liquid synthetic)

Textfield — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 03:28:33 +0000

Simon Patterson, Rex Reason (solid gaseous liquid synthetic)
Softcover, 116 pp., offset 5/1, 105 x 130 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN 978-1-870699-13-6
Published by Book Works

$16.00 ·

Rex Reason presents the Periodic Table of the Elements in book form. A colour-coding system is set up (black for solids, blue for liquids and yellow synthetics) but where we might expect to find hydrogen, helium or lithium we find Yul Brynner, William Hogarth and Maria Callas. The selected names relate to the chemical symbol for each element: both letters must appear in the chosen name for example, Bertolt Brecht (Br, Bromine).

A loose logic prevails in the choice of names, for example names in red, gases, are from Greek myth or history and the yellow synthetic elements are given their proper names. However, Patterson disrupts this system with red herrings, mysteries and riddles that test the reader’s knowledge and that expose the inherent human desire to establish order and meaning.

Kidnapping Mountains

Textfield — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:49:36 +0000

Slavs and Tatars, Kidnapping Mountains
Softcover, 96 pp., offset 4/1, 20 x 26 cm
Edition of 1250
ISBN 978-1-906012-19-9
Published by Book Works

$32.00 ·

Kidnapping Mountains is a playful and informative exploration of the muscular stories, wills, and defeat inhabiting the Caucasus region. The book is comprised of two parts: an eponymous section addressing the complexity of languages and identities on the fault line of Eurasia, and Steppe by Steppe Romantics, a restoration of the region’s seemingly reactionary approaches to romance.

Put About: A Critical Anthology on Independent Publishing

Textfield — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 17:46:51 +0000

Maria Fusco and Ian Hunt, Put About: A Critical Anthology on Independent Publishing
Softcover, 194 pp., offset 4/1, 190 x 255 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN: 1-870699-70-X
Published by Book Works

$40.00 · out of stock

Put About: A Critical Anthology on Independent Publishing presents a timely discussion about independent publishing and publishing by artists, focusing on books where the makers keep control of every aspect of production through to distribution. Combining an interest in what and why publishers and artists feel compelled to deliver such materials, together with the economic models, audience and networks of association that can give independent productions a wider cultural presence, this book features a broad range of written and visual pieces alongside ‘case-studies’ from a selection of contemporary international publishers. Contributors include: John Baldessari, Simon Bedwell, Michael Bracewell, Andrea Brady, Cabinet Magazine, Bonnie Camplin, Maurizio Cattelan, David Dibosa, Matthew Higgs, Stewart Home, Lucy Lippard, Emily King, Gunilla Klingberg, Jakob Kolding, John Miller, Paul D. Miller aka Dj Spooky, Aleksandra Mir, Stéphanie Moisdon, David Osbaldeston, Raymond Pettibon, Lynne Tillman, Nicolas Trembley, and Axel John Wieder.

Falling Into Place

Textfield — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:46:37 +0000

Heather and Ivan Morison, Falling Into Place
Softcover, 144 pp., offset 4/1, 155 x 215 mm
Edition of 1500
ISBN 978-1-906012-09-0
Published by Book Works

$30.00 ·

In this beautiful, limited-edition artist’s book, British artists Heather and Ivan Morison continue their inquiry into cultures of self-sufficiency and the topography of escape, bringing together sketches, drawings and an engrossing narrative: part science fiction, part history, part autobiography and part fairytale. The Morisons represented Wales at the 2007 Venice Biennale with their timber structures Pleasure Island and Fantasy Island, which were inspired by the hand-built shelters associated with the “back-to-the-land” movements of the ‘sixties and ‘seventies. As they write, “It got to the point where I just had to get out. That’s when I built my first escape vehicle.”

Eine Pinot Grigio, Bitte

Textfield — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:49:31 +0000

Bernadette Corporation, Eine Pinot Grigio, Bitte
Softcover, 150 pp., offset 4/1, 165 x 240 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN: 978-1-933128-17-7
Published by Sternberg Press

$25.00 · out of stock

Formed in 1994, the Bernadette Corporation is a creative collective based in New York and Europe and organized around revolving memberships and associations. Its artistic output has ranged from fashion to film and literature, training videos, photography, etc., consistently insisting on the idea that the re-imagined format should inform the subject and give shape to its output. Whereas the first book released by BC was reportedly written by 150 people, in an “exquisite corpse” format, the second “novel,” entitled Be Corpse, is described as “a screenplay that cannot be a film” or “a film that can only be on paper.” A drama in three acts, the text seeks to make the gap between our primordial and contemporary selves collapse on itself, revealing an instinctless body and the brain manifest as the over-stimulated observer. Above all, Be Corpse should be received as the continuation of BC’s indirect, fiercely independent critique of our late capitalist/globalized world.

A Stellar Key to the Summerland

Textfield — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:32:40 +0000

Olivia Plender, A Stellar Key to the Summerland
Softcover, 112 pp., offset 1/1, 140 x 180 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN: 978-1-870699-86-0
Published by Book Works

$30.00 · out of stock

British artist Olivia Plender’s work is based in historical research, finding idiosyncratic and little-known events, “peculiar pockets of forgotten history that sit awkwardly with the way we live now,” as one observer comments. Her new graphic novel takes us to another of those pockets, the Modern Spiritualist Movement, which began in 1848, a heady mixture of non-conformist religion, politics and popular entertainment presented as a scientific response to the newly industrialized world. The movement’s working-class base linked it to political campaigns, particularly the anti-slavery movement and the campaign for women’s suffrage. By acting as mediums, women found a unique opportunity to give political speeches — in the guise of channeling a spirit — without transgressing social boundaries. Plender, who was a participant in the 2006 Tate Triennial, mimics the techniques of 19th-century pamphlets and combines spiritualist ephemera with interviews in this absorbing work. Part of Book Works Singular Sociology Series.

Folk Archive

Textfield — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 18:17:39 +0000

Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, Folk Archive
Softcover, 158 pp., offset 4/4, 170 x 240 mm
Edition of 2000
ISBN 978-1-870699-81-5
Published by Book Works

$35.00 ·

“If Pop Art is about liking things, as Andy Warhol said, then folk art is about loving things,” Jeremy Deller. This is a book about the creative life of Britain and the first attempt since the Festival of Britain to document the popular and folk art of the present day. Organized by Jeremy Deller and Alan Kane, Folk Archive: Contemporary Popular Art from the UK, presents a personal selection of objects and actions, containing elements of ambition, humour, pathos and resistance, which present us with invaluable evidence of life in Britain today.