Project Rainbow.

Project Rainbow. By Ryan McGuiness, works by Ryan McGuiness. Ginko Press. 112pp., 112 colour illustrations, hardcover, 8 1/2x11". Some images from Book By Its Cover.

"Project Rainbow takes the viewer on a journey deep into the layered silkscreen compositions Ryan McGuiness created specifically for this book. Every detail of these works is revealed, from the texture and flaws of the paper to the dynamic forms created by an endless ''rainbow'' of inks and silkscreened layers. According to McGinness this process reveals ''a fractal-based, worlds within-worlds structure that mirrors the parallel-dimensions model of the universe.'' Project Rainbow is published in a limited edition as a tribute to the simultaneous solo exhibitions, ''Ryan McGinness: Project Rainbow'' at 222 Gallery in Philadelphia and ''Ryan McGinness: Worlds Within Worlds'' at Deitch Projects in New York in the Fall of 2003."

I really like the idea of seeing the process / of the process making its' mark on the finished work.

For more go to the post at Book By Its Cover where I found this great book, Ryan McGuiness site (especially images from Worlds Within Words - just amazing!) or get the book at Ginko Press.

I'm not actually a summer person

59 buketter från min trädgård (59 bouquets from my garden). By Denise Grünstein, photographs by Denise Grünstein. Prisma publishers, 2007. 224pp., colour illustrations, hardbound. Individual images can be bought separately.

I'm not actually a summer person - I prefer the autumn (as you might've guessed) and that is partly what annoys me with Sweden: The winter is so dark and long and enveloping that it just takes over your life - the only way to counter-act it is to have a really long hot bright summer. When that summer doesn't materialise and you realise that autumn is coming it's like your entire body is screaming in protest (rather than rejoicing in autumn as it should). I'm very angry with winter for conspiring with summer to not let me enjoy autumn the way I should!

Anyhow this is the explanation for the appearance of summery images and flowers on the blog (and why I've been crawling down into a little hole instead of writing posts for the past week).

This is why I love summer in Sweden

Images from Lisen Organics.

This is why I love summer in Sweden (and I guess organic products!) even if I moan about Sweden and Swedish people pretty often according to my friends. If only I could bottle it and take the feeling with me...

Wonder Beast.

Wonder Beast. By Nate Williams and Bongoût. Illustrations, hand-bound using thread, 9.75x9.75". Images from Book By Its Cover.

I can't tell you how happy I am that Book By Its Cover is up and running again! So as a celebration I'll give you this lovely find...

This wonderful book is a collaboration between illustrator Nate Williams and artist group/book art group Bongoût.

To learn more about Bongoût or buy from their web shop go here. For more of Nate Williams go here or here for example. Of course also read the great post over at Book By Its Cover.

The Man Who Stopped Time.

The Man Who Stopped Time. The Illuminating Story of Eadweard Muybridge - Pioneer Photographer, Father of the Motion Picture, Murderer. Text by Brian Clegg. Photographs by Eadweard Muybridge. Joseph Henry Press, Washington, 2007. 248 pp., Numerous illustrations, 6x9".

"His work is iconic: the first icons of the modern visual age. Men, women, boxers, wrestlers, racehorses, elephants and camels frozen in time, captured in the act of moving, fighting, galloping, living. Scarcely a day goes by without their derivate use somewhere in today's media. And if most of us have seen Muybridge's distinctive stop-motion photographs, all of us have seen the fruit of his extraordinary technological innovation: today's cinema and television.

[...]

Skillfully articulating the fascinating history of a now ubiquitous technology, author Brian Clegg combines ingredients from science and biography to create an eminently readable, fast-paced, and surprising story."

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar.

An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar. Photographs by Taryn Simon. Foreword by Salman Rushdie. Commentary by Ronald Dworkin. Essay by Elisabeth Sussman, Christina Kukielski. Steidl / Whitney Museum, Gottingen, 2007. 70 pp., Illustrated throughout, 10x13½".

"In An American Index of the Hidden and Unfamiliar, Taryn Simon documents spaces that are integral to America’s foundation, mythology and daily functioning, but remain inaccessible or unknown to a public audience. She has photographed rarely seen sites from domains including: science, government, medicine, entertainment, nature, security and religion. [...] The work responds to a desire to discover unknown territories, to see everything."

I think these photographs are simply beautiful, rather than "form a seductive collection that reflects and reveals a national identity", which I gather is the aim with the photography process and subsequent book. I've chosen to shown them as just that (beautiful), but for those who are intrigued by the stated intention of the book go here for links and to read and see more.

The Dude Abides

Scenes from the Big Lebowski.

When I read Absurdity's Big Lebowski-posting I got reminded of this great article that I saved after I happened to see it when I picked up a Guardian whilst in London last.
The article will most probably go up on the wall and I re-watched the film on the imac delux last night - as brilliant as ever!

Escapes.

Escapes. Photographs by Björn Abelin. Journal, Stockholm, 2007. 56 pp., 21 black and white illustrations.

"Sand dunes covered in grass and flattened by the wind, an expansive field of grain, or the imposing face of a cliff, captured in their emptiness and devoid of any human trace, typify the subjects of Abelin's seemingly timeless photographs. Handsomely produced, this book presents 21 rich, full page duotone images, photographed in different locations throughout Europe between 1997 and 2004."

The image above reminds me a lot of old fashion style photographs (which I love). It's beautiful and serene and I would very much like to be able to see more of this book. I've trotted the web for more information about this photographer as well as the publisher and book, but it's been hard to find. I still couldn't resist to post it and hope I will run across the book at one point (or that someone out there perhaps knows?)

U&lc : Influencing Design & Typography.

U&lc : Influencing Design & Typography. By John D. Berry. Mark Batty Publisher, 2005. 192pp., illustrations, 13.1 x 9.6 x 0.9".

I have a particular soft spot for typography and typography books. This is another fantastic one - hope you enjoy it!

"U&lc magazine (Upper & lower case) was a defining voice in graphic design worldwide between 1970 and 1999. It was in some ways a lifestyle magazine for the design community providing a fascinating intersection of popular cultural and graphic design in the last quarter of the 20th century. The list of editorial contributors to U&lc is long, and many prominent designers worked on designing entire issues. Their best work is showcased in this book through the reproduction of selected covers, stories and illustrations from the nearly 120 quarterly issues that were published. This book also contains an introduction and four informal but in-depth chapters on the background, context, use of design and typography, and the people involved in making U&lc happen over the years."

ABZ.

ABZ. By Julian Rothenstein, Mel Gooding. Chronicle Books, 2003. 224pp., illustrations, 11.8 x 8.3 x 0.9". Some images from Book By Its Cover.

I just LOVE this book found via the excellent Book By Its Cover and had to order it the second I saw it!

"Special features include an amazing alphabet, circa 1926, created from photographs of a dancing woman; original test-types for opticians charts; pages from sign artists manuals; and coolly elegant designs from fin de si cle French, German, Italian, and Czech journals. Nearly all of this rare and beautiful material is reproduced here for the first time since its original publication. An art book like no other, ABZ is a collection of typographic oddities taken to the next level of appreciation."

Ooooh, don't you just have to have it?

Witness No. 2.

Witness No. 2. Photographs by Daido Moriyama. Joy of Giving Something, New York, 2007. 96 pp., 58 duotone illustrations, 9½x12".

I wrote about Witness No.1 back in February and I feel equally excited about Witness No. 2 being out now!

I really do love this idea of a series of small, limited edition books created, edited and determined by an individual artist.

For this second edition Daido Moriyama "presents work in which – although not immediately apparent – reality collides with imagination." He takes us to Shanghai - a place of his childhood imagination, but which he'd only first visited in recent years. The resulting photographs of Shanghai found in this book is the Shanghai Daido Moriyama found on seeing it with his own eyes exploring its' streets.

He's also commissioned work by two other Japanese artists - Emi Anrakuji and Ken Kitano. "Emi Anrakuji’s jigsaw puzzle-like portraits of herself – naked, clothed or partially dressed – blur the boundaries between documentary and staged photography. Ken Kitano has photographed numerous people of the same age or having the same occupation, and has then exposed dozens of the negatives, one at a time, onto a single sheet of paper."

For more about this book go here to Nazraeli Press.

Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni

Images from Anita Elgerot's blog / Magasin 1.

We lost two extraordinary film makers in one day and I've read a number of articles or obituaries about them, but none as thought-through and eloquent as this one written by Anita Elgerot and published on Magasin 1 (there is also a great extract on her blog).

She also have two (click on the individual links to view the full post) posts and a longer article published on Magasin 1 about Lars Forssell (the Swedish author, poet and member of the Swedish Academy and the Nobel Prize for Literature-committee) and the singer and composer Lee Hazlewood amongst a great amount of fantastic other!

Fashioning Fiction in Photography.

Fashioning Fiction in Photography. Essay by Susan Kismaric and Eva Respini. Interview with Dennis Freedman. The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2004. 144 pp., 110 color and 11 duotone illustrations, 9x12".

This book accompanied the exhibition Fashioning Fiction in Photography since 1990 shown in 2004 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

The exhibition's aim was to show the change in fashion photography especially the sharp change in direction starting in the 1990's.

The exhibition especially focused on the two different threads (as seen by them) of "the application of cinematic techniques, as seen in the work of Cedric Buchet and Cindy Sherman, among others, and the snapshot aesthetic, as exemplified by the photographs of Nan Goldin, Juergen Teller, and others." All images displayed in the exhibition (and subsequently in this book) are commissioned work featured in magazines or ad campaigns.

"An intriguing exchange of ideas and techniques between commercial photography and art photography and, more specifically, between fashion and art photography, has completely changed the idea of what a fashion photograph is and what it should look like. The focus is on defining a milieu rather than just clothing. The book includes 121 color and 37 black and white illustrations by photographers such as Philip-Lorca diCorcia, Cedric Buchet, Glen Luchford, Tina Barney, Juergen Teller, Nan Goldin, and Larry Sultan, among others."

Karin Mamma Andersson

Karin Mamma Andersson. By Karin Mamma Andersson. Essays by Ann-Sofi Noring and Charles Merewether, photographs of paintings by JH Engström. Steidl & Partners, 2007. 160 pp., four colour throughout, 28 cm x 21.7 cm (hardcover).

"The Swedish painter Karin Mamma Andersson works with a highly idiosyncratic imagery, engendered by the mysteries of dreams, fairytales and everyday life. She paints with an indefatigable passion for storytelling, spreading the paint thickly with broad, sweeping gestures, or dryly and sparsely, across the canvas. Glimmering beauty and dark maelstroms of doom are sampled with elements from myths, films and dreams, the absurd and the realistic, in the same picture. Her early works feature children in vast landscapes, echoing her own childhood in northern Sweden. The figures are set, each separately, in forests, by lakes, in the countryside. This rural setting later gives way to the interiors of the art world – cluttered framers’ workshops, libraries and elegant salons with finely ornamented objects. More recently, these rooms have opened up towards new worlds, where dream and reality seem to be careening. Whatever motifs she paints, the atmosphere appears to be fairly constant: a form of serenity in between finding and forgetting. The titles underline the ambiguity, explaining nothing but running parallel with the paintings."

This book produced by Steidl together with Moderna Museet in Stockholm is wonderful! We went and saw the exhibition in the spring and thoroughly enjoyed it, but the paintings came alive and at the same time seemed to flow first when I looked through the book. The quality of the paper and the reproduction of the paintings are outstanding!

Buy the book or go and see the exhibition at Moderna museet (exhibition ends tomorrow Aug 5th) or if you can't make the exhibition buy the book through Steidl.

Chloë Sevigny-disappointment in House & Gardens

I really like Chloë Sevigny and her take on style so I must say I was disappointed by how very non-individual her home - as featured in House & Garden - is. I think the guest room is great though (flowers, flowers, flowers! as above) even if it's probably too busy to actually get some sleep in...