Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Codex Australia website

CODEX AUSTRALIA website is now up & running and the organisation itself is well & truly launched - check the site out - Codex Australia - one of the advantages of being a Sponsor is occasional visits to book artists' studios or to those with significant private book collections - the first of these is coming up on October 14 at the studio of Bruno Leti in Melbourne - and in November, the first of the Codex Bolton Lectures (open to everybody) will be held - check the Codex website for more precise details closer to the time of the events. . . 

Monday, August 27, 2012

another new book

another new book, well, perhaps, it's always a tricky question - am I repeating myself - we spend our lives repeating the same words - that we do so in different orders makes what, exactly, sort of difference - however, at least I can say I have begun work on another book - for many years I and I suppose countless others have admired the work of Hendrik Werkman, who made typographic prints at the handpress from materials, types, blocks, rollers etc that were to be found in his printery - he produced a periodical, in Dutch, tho the title is in English (never seen any commentator comment on that), The Next Call - now that I have ceased printing the work of others, I have picked up on the wish to in some measure emulate the unique Werkman (is it 'workman' in English, for that would suit me very well) and produce a printed periodical titled The next word - all my books now will have that title, plus a subtitle, which will relate to the title in different (ha! I keyed in "deferent" ways - which, is also, as someone said, 'of the matter' - the present book is The next word : Red Square - where 'Red Square' refers to the imaginary exhibition posited by Arthur C Danto (The transfiguration of the commonplace, 1981) which consisted of several visually identical paintings of red squares with very different captions. . . the work will be in many colors thruout, with a mix of wood & metal types, printed damp on Barcham Green India Office handmade paper & Ruscombe India Office handmade paper at the handpress - in 40 copies (Werkman's periodical was done in 40 copies) tho my books will likely be all 32 pages where his were of 8 pages only - in any case, the 'Werkman' text for this book takes all the Dutch words in his 9 issues that also spell out English words, and these have become my words for the book - I am indebted to Arthur Danto for permission to use his idea - I'll keep you posted on progress. . . for the fun of it, here are the Dutch/English words -

[the versos]
Dutch words in The next call that also spell English words
was         reeds        van         met         datum         die         rose         is         want         reveille         elk         mild         man         also         dag         door         stem         den         horrible         execution         immense         vent         moment         crier         art     aspiration         pour         diner         meditations         encore         plus         rend         smart         beer         over         toga         zoo         ex libris         cosmos         boulevard         leg         bent         president of         drift         wilt         program         punt         blank         Three cheers for the Fresco’s            Baedeker         span         ware         doctor         best         begin         machine         motor          hotel         reaction         rang         &         stand         cargo         radio         blue         band         en masse         dividend         effect         avant-garde         manuscript         burger         held         week         journalist         per         post         loudspeaker         past         auto         stank         detail         face         gladden         coefficient         credit         cyclostyles         offers         dogma         surplus         element         sport         war         mutter