LA ART BOOK FAIR 2019
APRIL 12–14, 2019
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Opening Night: April 11
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
April 12–14, 2019
Opening Night: April 11
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA
152 North Central Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90012
THE CLASSROOM
11:00—12:00 pm
In Memory of Shannon Michael Cane (1974-2017)
Please join Printed Matter as we remember our dear friend and colleague Shannon Michael Cane. All are invited to gather to share memories, stories, or simply reflect. This event will be open to the public. Shannon was a beloved member of Printed Matter’s staff who played an indelible role in developing the NY and LA Art Book Fairs during his time as Curator of Fairs & Editions.
12:00—1:00 pm
Reunión, an ongoing project by Dani Zelko
“Walking through cities, towns, border crossings and rural communities of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, I ran into people that had to flee from the Global South and look for a new life in North America. I invited them to write a few poems. They spoke to me and I wrote down everything they said by hand. Each time they inhaled I started a new line. Nothing was recorded. We printed their books that day. The next day, when the circumstances allowed it, each person read their poems aloud in a round of nine chairs and gave the books to everyone who came to listen. In the beginning, during a get-together, spoken word becomes written word. In the end, poems occasion a gathering where the written word becomes oral. Poems are at last between two people instead of two pages.”
Join the author for a presentation on the project and a collective reading in a circle of nine chairs. Presented by Gato Negro Ediciones.
1:00—2:00 pm
Stagelessness, with grupa o.k. (Julian Myers and Joanna Szupinska)
The second in a series of publication co-produced by Fillip (Vancouver) and Plug In ICA (Winnipeg), Stagelessness is a visual essay on the history and evolution of the stage built up from a sequence of pictures and extended captions. Join art historian Julian Myers and curator Joanna Szupinska for an introduction to this history in the form of a slide presentation of images critical to its formation. The event will serve as the Los Angeles launch of the first publication in the series: The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye by Toril Johannessen. Presented by Fillip. ︎
2:00—3:00 pm
In Memory of Shannon Michael Cane (1974-2017)
Please join Printed Matter as we remember our dear friend and colleague Shannon Michael Cane. All are invited to gather to share memories, stories, or simply reflect. This event will be open to the public. Shannon was a beloved member of Printed Matter’s staff who played an indelible role in developing the NY and LA Art Book Fairs during his time as Curator of Fairs & Editions.12:00—1:00 pm
Reunión, an ongoing project by Dani Zelko
“Walking through cities, towns, border crossings and rural communities of Mexico, the United States, and Canada, I ran into people that had to flee from the Global South and look for a new life in North America. I invited them to write a few poems. They spoke to me and I wrote down everything they said by hand. Each time they inhaled I started a new line. Nothing was recorded. We printed their books that day. The next day, when the circumstances allowed it, each person read their poems aloud in a round of nine chairs and gave the books to everyone who came to listen. In the beginning, during a get-together, spoken word becomes written word. In the end, poems occasion a gathering where the written word becomes oral. Poems are at last between two people instead of two pages.”Join the author for a presentation on the project and a collective reading in a circle of nine chairs. Presented by Gato Negro Ediciones.
1:00—2:00 pm
Stagelessness, with grupa o.k. (Julian Myers and Joanna Szupinska)
The second in a series of publication co-produced by Fillip (Vancouver) and Plug In ICA (Winnipeg), Stagelessness is a visual essay on the history and evolution of the stage built up from a sequence of pictures and extended captions. Join art historian Julian Myers and curator Joanna Szupinska for an introduction to this history in the form of a slide presentation of images critical to its formation. The event will serve as the Los Angeles launch of the first publication in the series: The Invention and Conclusion of the Eye by Toril Johannessen. Presented by Fillip. ︎2:00—3:00 pm
Circus of Books, with Billy Miller and Rachel Mason
Since 1960, the infamous Circus of Books has been many things to many people. A recent article in the L.A. Times said, "The Santa Monica Boulevard store gained legendary status in Southern California’s LGBTQ community as a place where people could peruse gay erotica or meet other gay people, hanging out in a place free from homophobia.” The store and the notorious cruising area behind it —known locally as "Vaseline Alley"—makes an appearance in Joe Doe’s (of the band X) book "Under The Big Black Sun", as well as writer Gary Indiana's "I Can Give You Anything But Love", and is shown in filmmaker Bruce LaBruce's "Hustler White." Online porn has spelled the end of both porn video as well as the majority of adult books and magazines, and the last of the two Circus of Books stores closed in February of 2019. Independent publisher Billy Miller presents a new book-zine inspired by the store and its unique history with contributions from several artists and writers, and, filmmaker Rachel Mason will show scene selections from her new Circus of Books documentary. ︎3:00—4:00 pm
Publishing as Activism: Water, Gold, Soil, with Sayler/Morris and Christina Labey. Presented by Sayler/Morris and Conveyor Editions.
Publishing has a longstanding history as a form of activism, and artist books are a natural extension of this tradition. In conjunction with the launch of their new monograph Water, Gold, Soil: The American River, Susannah Sayler and Edward Morris (Sayler/Morris) will discuss how climate change and social justice are intrinsically linked. Comprised of text, photographs, and archival images, Water, Gold, Soil follows a single flow of water in California; from the headwaters in the Sierra Nevada to its agricultural end-use in the Westlands Water District. Together with Christina Labey (Creative Director, Conveyor Editions), the presentation will address the invaluable role of book design in telling a complex narrative and discuss our experiments with materials, structure, typography to bring together form and concept. Presented by Sayler/Morris and Conveyor Editions. ︎4:00—5:00 pm
The double, shadow, and enemy, with Matilda Tjäder
Matilda Tjäder presents a new performance in the wishing for more cycle; a performance series by a fictive entrepreneur whose subjective form is increasingly fragmented by continuous transformation. Learning and un-learning from its environment, its subjectivity—like water—flows, seduces, and breaks. A void opens onto another zone in which a new map is drawn, “but remember, the map is not the territory.” Taking place in the midst of sound and visuals, each episode draws from its site-specificity whilst rendering the invisible visible. With a bouquet of nettles, Tjäder welcomes you to her chamber. The performance takes place in conjunction with her residency at LACA (Los Angeles Contemporary Archive) this April. ︎5:00—6:00 pm