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THE MEXICAN SUITCASE
(8/30/11) From Lee
Those lucky enough to attend the
International Center of Photography’s extraordinary exhibition
devoted to “The Mexican Suitcase” are aware of the enigma of
this amazing trove of photographic negatives taken during The
Spanish Civil War. “In late December 2007, three small cardboard
boxes arrived at the ICP from Mexico City after a long and
mysterious journey. These tattered boxes - the so-called Mexican
Suitcase - contained the legendary Spanish Civil War negatives
of Robert Capa. Rumors had circulated for years of the survival
of the negatives, which had disappeared from Capa's Paris studio
at the beginning of World War II. Cornell Capa, Robert's brother
and the founder of ICP, had diligently tracked down each tale
and vigorously sought out the negatives, but to no avail. When,
at last, the boxes were opened for the eighty-nine year old
Cornell Capa, they revealed 126 rolls of film—not only by Robert
Capa, but also by Gerda Taro and David Seymour (known as "Chim"),
three of the major photographers of the Spanish Civil War.
Together, these roles of film constitute an inestimable record
of photographic innovation and war photography, but also of the
great political struggle to determine the course of Spanish
history and to turn back the expansion of global fascism. The
three were among the first photographers to go into battle with
their small, handheld cameras and photograph the bombing and
fighting as it unfolded. They were partisan photojournalists,
committed to the Spanish Republican cause and the importance of
educating people about the growing threat of fascism through the
picture press. They photographed in Spain throughout the war -
Taro was killed in action there. Their partisan engagement
helped them get closer to their subjects and consequently make
powerful images”.
Our friend, curator
and filmmaker Trisha Ziff has completed a compelling new
documentary on this fascinating aspect of photographic history
entitled “The Mexican Suitcase” that will be screening over the
next week as part of the “Docuweeks” festivals in both New York
(The IFC Center) and Los Angeles (Laemmle’s Sunset 5). Please
see the film’s website for details
– we urge you to show your support and check it out! Also
available is the awesome two volume set of the same name
published ICP and Steidl which can be purchased from us for
$98.00.
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THE MEXICAN SUITCASE Edited by Cynthia
Young; Essays by David Balsells, Simon Dell, Kristen Lubben,
Michel Lefebvre and Bernard Lebrun, Paul Preston, Brian Wallis,
and Cynthia Young
Steidl ICP, 2011
Two hardcover books in a sleeve
$ 98.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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BOOK OF THE DAY
(8/4/11) Sorry it's been so long
It's finally here!!!! LA MAISON by Koto
Bolofo. 11 hardcover books, bound in craft paper with a
tipped-in-photo, foil embossing on spine, housed in a slipcase.
Koto Bolofo is the first photographer to
have been granted unlimited access to the secret workshops of
Hermès, the house famous for its leather goods, scarves and other
beautiful objects. La Maison, itself an elaborate object
comprising eleven volumes and the result of seven years' work,
showcases Bolofo's painstaking documentation of the Hermès
universe. Bolofo's photos explore every facet of Hermès
craftsmanship, from the manufacturing of saddles, silk scarves and
and the famous Kelly Bag, toready-to-wear, shoes and perfume.
Bolofo left no stone unturned: even the private Hermès museum is
revealed, a treasure trove hidden in Hermès headquarters on the
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré. The story of how the La Maison
project began became part of Hermès history. In 2002 Bolofo met
the chairman of Hermès, Jean-Louis Dumas. Says Bolofo: "Mr Dumas
asked me where I came from and I said Lesotho in South Africa. He
was shocked and excited, explaining that his great great
grandfather was a missionary, and how the Sothos - my tribe - had
protected him. Mr Dumas welcomed me as his cousin and gave me
carte blanche to photograph what I liked at Hermès."

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LA MAISON by KOTO BOLOFO
Steidl, 2011
11 hardcover books, bound in craft paper with a tipped-in-photo,
foil embossing on spine, housed in a slipcase
Vol.1: Horses, 96 pages
Vol.2: Saddles, 72 pages
Vol.3: Kelly Bag, 96 pages
Vol.4: Clothes, 96 pages
Vol.5: Perfume, 48 pages
Vol.6: Bugatti Veyron, 128 pages
Vol.7: Gardens, 64 pages
Vol.8: Special Orders, 96 pages
Vol.9: Silk, 80 pages
Vol.10: John Lobb, 96 pages
Vol.11: Collection Émile Hermès, 160 page
$ 238.00
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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FRANCESCO VEZZOLI PRESENTS BALLET RUSSES ITALIAN STYLE
(THE SHORTEST MUSICAL YOU WILL NEVER SEE AGAIN)
Gagosian Gallery, 2011
Hardback, 48 pages
$50.00
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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BOOK OF THE DAY (UPDATE)
(2/4/2011) from Whitney:
Here are
some of the books we've chosen as Book of the Day recently (see
below, or on
Facebook, for more).
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BOOK OF THE DAY
(12/17/2010) from Brenda
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BOOK OF THE DAY
(12/16/2010) from Whitney
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TEN TIMES ROSIE: RANKIN & THOMAS WYLDE
Rankin Photography, 2010
Hardback, 240 pages
$ 60.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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BOOK OF THE DAY
(12/09/2010) from Whitney
Though I've never been there, I'm pretty sure I'd like to live
in The Museum of Everything, like a grown-up Claudia Kincaid in
an Art Brut wonderland. "After
its successful debut in London in 2009, The Museum of Everything
visited Italy to present a selection of works by unconventional
artists of the 20th century. Works showcased include those by
mediums, miners and mystics, self-taught artists, obsessional
and visionary artists, and artists and craft experts with
disabilities, who operate outside conventional aesthetic
standards. The collection is composed of examples of works by
the greatest artists working in this sphere. The Museum of
Everything invited more than 50 well-known figures in the world
of art and music to write about works that have inspired them.
As a result, the works are accompanied by contributions from
Peter Blake, Christian Boltanski, Nick Cave, Paul Chan, Jarvis
Cocker, David Byrne, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Pete Townsend, Ed
Ruscha and many others. The Turin exhibition includes
contributions from John Baldessari, Maurizio Cattelan, Paolo
Colombo, Marlene Dumas, Cornelia Parker and Francesco Vezzoli."
Those of you in London should check out this weekend's fabulous
festivities at the Museum at Primrose Hill that include a Punch
and Judy shows, discussions with Sir Peter Blake, live
taxidermy, carnies and more. Check it out at
www.museumofeverything.com.
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THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING, #1
Mondadori Electa, 2010
Hardback, 268 pages
$ 87.50
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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BORN MODERN: THE LIFE AND DESIGN
OF ALVIN LUSTIG
Steven Heller and Elaine
Lustig Cohen
Chronicle, 2010
Hardback, 208 pages
$ 50.00
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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BOOK(s) OF THE DAY(s) (UPDATE)
(12/8/2010) from Whitney:
For those of you that aren't
Facebook-ers* (I'm a fairly recent inductee/convert, myself) we're
semi-regularly posting "Book of the Day" for your
bibliographic pleasure. If you haven't seen it, here are
some of the books we've highlighted recently (see
below, or on
Facebook, for more).

Where Children Sleep James
Mollison |

Maske
Phyllis Galembo |

I Caravaggeschi: Percorsi e Protagonisti |

Tim Hetherington
Infidel |

Maripol
Little Red Riding Hood |

The Surreal House
Jane Alison,
editor |

PAUL THEK:
Diver, A Retrospective |

NO SINGING ALLOWED: Flamenco &
Photography
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FROM FAIR TO FINE: 20th Century
Photography Books That Matter |

MARILYN MONROE, THE COMPLETE
LAST SITTING
Bert Stern |

Banksy
CUT IT OUT |

MALACARNE - MARRIED TO THE MOB
by Alberto Giuliani |

JASON FULFORD
The Mushroom Collector |

ALEC SOTH
From Here to There: Alec Soth's America |

MÜTTER MUSEUM HISTORIC MEDICAL
PHOTOGRAPHS & THE MUTTER MÜSEUM |

TOOLS FOR LIVING: A Sourcebook
of Iconic Designs for the Home |

MONO MAGAZINE SPECIAL
WORKWEAR NO. 1 |

EMMETT
by
Ron Jude |

MARC JACOBS ADVERTISING
1998-2009 |

YVES KLEIN BY HIMSELF by
Klaus Ottmann |

NOT YOUR TYPICAL POLITICAL
ANIMAL
Robbie Conal |

DESTROY ALL MOVIES!!!
Zach Carlson &
Bryan Connolly |

Recycling & Redesigning Logos
Michael Hodgson |
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*
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THE BOOK OF JOB
Job
Smeets, Nynke Tynagel,
Viktor & Rolf,
Alessandro Mendini, Murray Moss
Rizzoli, 2010
Hardback, 348 pages
$ 150.00
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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STAFF PICK
(10/28/2010) from Whitney
Stendhal Syndrome.... CECIL BEATON: THE ART OF THE SCRAPBOOK. This
massive, stunning book in a gorgeous printed slipcase, reproduces
Beaton's prolific scrapbooks. The photographer's iconic images are
juxtaposed with clippings, sketches, invitations, notes, paintings
to an awe inspiring effect. "To flip through the pages is to enter
a fabulous and surreal party where Tallulah Bankhead rubs
shoulders with a bust of Voltaire and a portrait of Stravinsky;
where Beaton's first trip on the Queen Mary coincides with Queen
Elizabeth's coronation. Beaton's scrapbooks allowed the artist to
play with pictures he had taken (and perhaps those he wished he
had) in the dreamspace of artifice that was always his favorite
setting." The pages themselves are inspiring; they are witness to
Beaton's process, they evoke an understanding of his eye for
beauty, and they are some of the dreamiest things you'll ever see.
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STAFF PICK
(10/26/2010) from Roy
MONO MAGAZINE SPECIAL WORKWEAR NO. 1
The uniforms of America's 20th century
agricultural & industrial workers and military personnel have
become inspiration for today's fashion-obsessed societies. In
particular, Japanese men have taken this passion to the next
level. Dandyism has ...become the norm, with hoards of these well
dressed men searching for and snatching up every piece they can
get their hands on. Vintage denim, canvas and leather work boots
have become treasure for these hunters, while numerous Japanese
ateliers specializing in these garments are gaining international
recognition. This Mono Magazine special issue explores this mania
and its charismatic connoisseurs. Overflowing with vintage and
contemporary images alike, this issue devoted to work wear is a
superbly illustrated and beautiful resource.
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MONO MAGAZINE
SPECIAL WORKWEAR NO. 1
World Photo Press, 2010
Paperback, 336 pages
$ 45.00
sales@arcanabooks.com
or 310-458-1499
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DIRTY BABY
(10/13/2010) from Lee
“Dirty Baby” is poet David Breskin’s second elaborate
collaboration of text, music and image in book form. And what a
book! Nearly a decade after his elegant “Richter: 858” (with
paintings by Gerhard Richter and original music by Bill Frissell)
project, Breskin’s combines his own verse in the form of Arabic
ghazals and two audio CDs of newly commissioned music for large
ensemble by the redoubtable Nels Cline in dialogue with beautiful
reproductions of sixty-six “censor strip” paintings by Edward
Ruscha. Bound in two halves back to back and upside down in a
die-cut slipcase, the resulting “Dirty Baby” is an elaborately
designed and tour de force of the bookmaker’s art. The live
performance of excerpts from the book’s text and music by Breskin
and Cline accompanying Ruscha’s projected images at LACMA’s Bing
Theater last week as part of the Angel City Jazz Festival was one
of the most satisfying multi-media performances we’ve seen in many
a moon! Even at a modest-for-its-packaging $ 125.00, it won’t be
in print for long, so why not add this amazing volume to your
bookshelf and music library while it’s hot!

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Photo courtesy of Cryptogramophone
DIRTY BABY
Prestel, 2010
Hardcover, 160 pages, in a Slip-Case with 4 CDs
$ 125.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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RECENT BOOKS OF THE
DAY
(from our
Facebook page)
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POINTS BETWEEN...UP TILL NOW / ROBERT POLIDORI
Steidl, 2010
Hardback, 239 pages
$ 45.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499 |
THE BEAUTIFUL &
THE DAMNED: PUNK PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANN SUMMA
(9/29/2010) from Lee
Any of you even
remotely conversant with Los Angeles punk scene of the late
seventies and early eighties should remember Ann Summa’s striking
photographs that appeared regularly in the late, great
Slash magazine.
Now some thirty years later, our friends at Foggy Notion Books
have just produced "The
Beautiful & the Damned: Punk Photographs by Ann Summa"
- a lovely hardbound volume filled with these vintage gritty and
endearing images; many collected here in book form for the first
time! Edited and with an introduction by Kristine McKenna, it
features iconic portraits of everyone from local heroes X, Gun
Club, The Screamers, The Germs, Johanna Went, and The Kipper
Kids to Television, Talking Heads, The Cramps, R.E.M., The Clash,
Sex Pistols, Iggy Pop, Captain Beefheart, and many many more. It
comes in one standard edition, and three (count 'em, three!)
different limited editions with a photograph, so please see
this page for
all the details.
The trade version is
priced at $39.95, and we have a few copies additionally signed by
photographer Ann Summa remaining at no extra charge,
first come first served. There are also three deluxe signed,
numbered, slipcased editions limited to twenty copies each that
include a signed black and while silver gelatin print of either
John Doe and Exene, Joe Strummer, or Iggy Pop. We are the sole
retailer of these on the West Coast, and have copies of the Iggy
Pop and Joe Strummer available at the publisher's price of
$150.00 NOW $ 200.00
per. Foggy Notion has mandated a price increase once the first ten
of each have been sold, and so we have the last few copies of the
John Doe and Exene edition available at $200.00
SOLD OUT!.
All prices are net.
The holidays are
creeping up on us, and the deluxe editions are likely to be gone
long before the December frost. One or all of these will be sure
to please that gracefully aging, erstwhile punk in your life -
maybe even yourself - so get 'em while you can! As always, do let
us know if you have any further questions. You can place a secure
order directly with us using PayPal
here, or by phone (310-458-1499) or email
(sales@arcanabooks.com)
if you prefer.
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For more information and to order,
click
here.
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Book of the Day: Bob Willoughby:
Audrey Hepburn: Photographs 1953-1966
(9/23/2010)
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Bob Willoughby: Audrey Hepburn: Photographs
1953-1966
Taschen, 2010
Hardbound, 282 pages
$ 750.00
To order call 310-458-1499 or
click
here
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BOOK OF THE DAY
(7/23/2010) from Whitney:
If you "like" Arcana on Facebook
you'll know that we have been giving our "fans" a daily shot of
bibliographic manna -- Book of the Day.
If you haven't "liked" us yet, why not try it so you too can see
what we're digging over here? Sometimes topical, sometimes
new,
sometimes older sleepers, these are the books we've featured so
far:
oh, and...
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STAFF PICK
(6/23/2010) from S.S.:
24 cinematic moments presented in Wim Wenders' JOURNEY TO ONOMICHI
were taken on his trip to the town where his all-time favorite
film, Tokyo Story by Yasujiro Ozu, took place. A stunning
masterpiece - S.S.
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WIM WENDERS: JOURNEY TO ONOMICHI
Wim Wenders & Heiner Bastian
Schirmer/Mosel,
2010
Hardcover, 63 pages
$ 39.95
BUY (enter inventory number "ONOMICHI")
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THE SECRET PUBLIC
(5/7/2010) from Lee & Whitney:
Opening May 10th and running through the 23rd: THE SECRET PUBLIC
exhibition by Linder Sterling and Jon Savage, curated by our
colleague and pal Johan Kugelberg at his Boo-Hooray pop-up gallery
in New York! The show will feature the original montages,
photographs and collages from their notorious, amusingly
subversive 1978 New Hormones publication "The Secret Public”, as
well as other related materials. There will be a gala party on
Monday the 10th from 6 –
9:00 PM featuring a DJ set by Mr. Savage himself. Boo-Hooray is
located at 521 West 23rd Street (between 10th and 11th). Do make a
point of stopping by to revisit your Anglo-punk leanings, and tell
‘em Arcana sent you.
If you are unable to attend, we already
have in stock the spiffy, fully illustrated sixty page catalogue
for the show (limited to five hundred examples only) priced at an
exceptionally reasonable $25.00!
This is the super-cool new catalogue
published in conjunction with the Johan Kugelberg curated 2010
Boo-Hooray Gallery exhibition of the punk-era collage/montage work
of Jon Savage and Linder Sterling. "Jon Savage is the noted author
of "England’s Dreaming" and "Teenage". Linder Sterling is a
visual, performance and installation artist represented in the
Tate permanent collection. Jon Savage and Linder published the art
fanzine "The Secret Public" in Manchester during the first month
of 1978. It was the second New Hormones product - catalogue number
ORG 2 after the Buzzcocks' already iconic "Spiral Scratch" - and
was distributed through Rough Trade and other independent outlets.
This was followed by the portfolio "Mixed Media Montages"
published in late 1978. Some of these images originally appeared
as flyers and as posters for the Buzzcocks, Joy Division, Magazine
and Factory Records circa 1977-1980". This collects for the first
time quaint reproductions of these and other contemporaneous works
from the period (many not generally seen until now) along with
texts by Michael Bracewell, Jon Savage, and Linder Sterling. A
pristine copy of this must-have document limited to five hundred
numbered copies only that is sure to disappear quickly with a copy
of the opening announcement laid in!
And while you're in the mood, you might
also be interested in:
ASK THE ANGELS: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DONNA
SANTISI. Donna Santisi's self-published "Ask the Angels" from 1978
was the first book of photographs to document the then nascent Los
Angeles Punk and New Wave scene. A tireless frequenter of both the
live performances and backstage, her unpretentious, gritty images
comprised a who's who of both local and touring practitioners such
as The Runaways, Screamers, Bags, Dils, Weirdos, Go-Gos, Sparks,
Iggy Pop, Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Television, Blondie, The
Ramones, Talking Heads, Dead Boys, Cramps, Sex Pistols, Damned,
Jam, and too many more to mention. This brand new, oversized and
expanded edition is a must have for anyone who was there, or
wishes they were.
EILEEN POLK: PUNK IS DEAD. Published in a
very limited quantity to accompany the Bryan Ray Turcotte / Kill
Your Idols curated exhibition at Art Basel Miami 2008, "Punk is
Dead" is a beautiful compilation of Eileen Polk's seventies New
York photographs of The Misfits, Sid Vicious, Nancy Spungen, The
Dead Boys, Richard Hell, Johnny Thunders, Debbie Harry, The Clash,
The Ramones, and Devo.
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JON SAVAGE / LINDER STERLING: THE
SECRET PUBLIC
Johan Kugelberg, Michael Bracewell, Jon Savage & Linder Sterling
Boo-Hooray Gallery, 2010
Paperback, 60 pages
$ 25.00
BUY (enter inventory number "SECRET")
ASK THE ANGELS: PHOTOGRAPHS BY DONNA SANTISI
Donna Santisi & Trudie Arguelles
Kill Your Idols, 2010
Paperback, 122 pages
$ 25.00
BUY (enter
inventory number "ANGELS")
EILEEN POLK: PUNK IS DEAD.
Kill Your Idols, 2008
Paperback, 40 pages
$ 25.00
BUY (enter
inventory number "PUNKIS")
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IT'S RECORD STORE DAY (www.recordstoreday.com)!
(04/17/2010) from Whitney:
NEW AND USED
- SIGNED BY MARC JOSEPH
"Growing up in Ohio in the 1970s, photographer Marc Joseph
was first exposed to art, writing and music in the eccentric
smaller book and record shops of downtown Cleveland. Most Saturday
afternoons were spent combing through the stacks in anticipation
of a major future purchase - like his first, "London Calling" by
The Clash - or studying certain talismanic book covers like George
Orwell's "Animal Farm" or Allen Ginsberg's "Howl". This was the
beginning of Joseph's permanent fascination with books and records
- both as public artworks and as formative private experiences.
"New and Used" is a collection of richly detailed color
photographs of hardcovers, paperbacks, LPs, CDs and cassettes,
either shelved, piled, boxed and stacked in their natural
environments - independent book and record shops - or individually
silhouetted like artifacts pinned into shadow boxes. Together with
editor Damon Krukowski, the artist has assembled a collection of
short fiction, prose, poems and personal essays by writers and
musicians including Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth, novelists
Jonathan Lethem and Lydia Davis, critic and curator Bob Nickas,
poets Eileen Myles and Nick Tosches as well as Stephen Elliott,
Shelley Jackson, Aaron Rose, Jeremy Sigler, Stephanie Snyder and
Ian Svevonius, all of whom respond to the New and Used of their
own experience". A pristine example of one of our favorite
photography books SIGNED (at Arcana!) AND DATED in the year of
publication by Marc Joseph in black ink on the title page.
And speaking of records...:
DAVE MULLER: I LIKE YOUR MUSIC I LOVE YOUR MUSIC
Pity the youth, their zeroes and ones, trapped in their
devices! How will their potential friends and lovers recognize
them as one of their own, or one they want to be -- by browsing
their hard drives? How do you cherish that data file that
you scrimped and saved to ... download? What of cover art and
the liner notes? What of reading the lyrics, the credits, of
wondering who mythical creatures are in the "thanks"? And if
one album is complicated, pair it with the one next to it.
Factor in the and the one after that and pretty soon the
exponentially increased permutations become dizzying.
The delightful paintings in this book are (to me) about stuff:
objects, and the infinite loop of the way the objects influence
us and they way we express ourselves through the objects, who we
are because of what the object has given us, who we are because
we chose the object. In this case, the object is music,
the record album mostly, but the idea is readily commutable when
considering books, which you, dear reader seem to be interested
in by virtue of reading this at all. And it's good reading,
too, with some choice interview morsels from conversations
between Muller and various notable artists, gallerists &
coolsters. There's a LOT going on here, but what I really love
about this album-sized book are the paintings themselves
-- no reflection required, they speak for themselves as
pure delights. The work is simply fetching, its charm politely
belying the wealth of complex ideas that it evokes. Just like
some of the best albums.
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MARC JOSEPH: NEW AND USED
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499

DAVE MULLER: I LIKE YOUR MUSIC I LOVE YOUR MUSIC
JRP|Ringier, 2009
Hardcover, 168 pages
$ 68.00
sales@arcanabooks.com or 310-458-1499
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