I was invited to
be part of a book art project where a chain of curators chooses artists books.
Each person selects a book in response to the previous person's choice - here
is a link.
https://www.instagram.com/respondproject/
I followed Imi Maufe, http://www.imimaufe.com/
It was my turn today – I chose The Performing Book by Janine Harrington, first
seen in 2010. my text for the project is
- When looking
at Imi Maufe’s response I was struck by the concept of rules
and the act of subverting a system - so I thought I would continue that theme. It seems
pertinent in these times to present a bookwork that you cannot touch, made
up of people you can only stand near to. You do not touch this bookwork but
activate it by engaging your body, recognising, and considering your own
physicality. Proximity and interaction control the order and duration of the
pages/dancers, spaces in time. You initially encounter a static
line of people, as you move past the dancers/pages each performs a set movement
– your role as audience/reader/participant is not passive, initially as a
reader/viewer you become a participant/performer, interacting with the book,
and developing relationships with the dance. The interrelationships and roles
explored in the work are rich and multi-faceted. Janine explains
the ideas behind the piece in a video created on the London Millennium Footbridge (bit.ly/the-bridge-janine) but
I first saw the work at an MA Book Art Degree Show at Camberwell in 2010 (bit.ly/camberwell-janine) where I
was struck by Janine’s inventiveness when it came to exploring the potential of
the book. Stretching the idea of bookness. It is important to acknowledge
the dancers as each performance is re-devised - Vanessa Abreu, Alexandra
Baybutt, Paola di Bella, Katja Nyqvist, Lizzie Sells, Rosalie Walhfrid, Luke
Birch, Anaïs Bouts, Mark Carberry, Iris Chan, Katharin Cooper, Hayley Durward,
Andrew Graham, Janine Harrington, Alexandrina Hemsley, Katie Keeble, Lena
Kimming, Laura Lee, Katja Nyqvist, Alice Mackenzie, Stephanie McMann, Heloise
O’Donohue Lucie Sheppard, Alice Sunderland, Susan Sentler, Eleanor Sikorski,
Lena Kimming, Alice Mackenzie, Christopher Matthews, Stella Papi & Elisa
Vassena. You
can find more about Janine’s practice https://www.janineharrington.com/ Screensaver
Series and 10 Minutes are also worth checking out. Meanwhile screens – Undine https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11617052/
fantasy, myth, and reality clash. The Life Ahead https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10627584/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0
personal stories telling universal tales. Antoinette dans les Cévennes https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11013434/
Intense, bizarre and oddballish. @respondproject/ #BABE2021 #bookart #books #curate #artistsbooks
#bookness #BABEartistsbooksRESPOND
