A SERIES OF SIX ARTISTS’ BOOKS, 2009

UNIQUE STATEARTISTS' BOOKS
Written By Gracia Louise
 
 
 
 

1/ Gracia Haby
At the Château de la Malmaison tigers roam
2009

17 page artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil, 15.5cm X 22cm

 
 
 

A book of single-colour, postcard images now filled with new inhabitants, in the collection of the State Library Victoria.

It includes the collages,
At the principal entry, all hoped the northern fur seal knew what they were doing
Passing from one to the other was proving tiresome
A snow leopard pads about unseen in the vestibule
Patience was sure to deliver results for the blue-faced parrot finch
The council were not in attendance and had not been for a great while
Poised upon tabletop in the library, the red muntjac hoped to remain unseen by the studious
A drawing room unlike home, he thought. Most unlike home
Hoping to make no sound in the music room lest it be the wrong sort
The spotted seal felt most at home in the salle de bains
Walking a fine line through the empress's bedroom chamber
The leopard proved a natural where balance was concerned
Slow and steady does it
I keep them safe, the pair of them
Looking for things others may have overlooked
A Stella’s sea lion seeks a little illumination
They have taken flight already, it seems

 
 
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2/ Gracia Haby
Forming new acquaintances at the birthplace of Honoré de Balzac
2009

24 page artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil across the pages of Tours (France), 12cm X 17.5cm

 
 
 

An artists’ book of single-colour, postcard images now filled with new inhabitants including a Clouded leopard, Northern fur seal, Ringed seal, Platypus, Red kangaroo, Oribi, Klipspringer, and Neeve’s muntjac. It was exhibited as part of A key to help make your own world visible (2009).

 
 
 
 

3/ Gracia Haby
I am not trying to trick you; not purposefully
2009

16 page artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil across the pages of a small book of Souvenir of Versailles et des Trianons (Editions Françaises)

 
 
 

This artists’ book created for and exhibited as part of A key to help make your own world visible (2009).

 
 
 

4/ Gracia Haby
They ate their meals on the grass and danced on the lawns (Versailles & les Trianons)
2009

Artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil across the pages of Versailles & les Trianons

 
 
 

An artists’ book sixteen pages in length, made especially for the exhibition A key to help make your own world visible (2009), it features collage and pencil across scenes both unfamiliar and familiar. The central part of the castle owes its origins to Louis XIII, who used to go there in 1627 to hunt, tells the guide, and the title of this artists’ book is in reference to Marie-Antoinette, who also enjoyed such amusements. “Court etiquette was forgotten. A dress of lawn, a neckerchief and a lace cap: such was the existence and dress of the queen of France at Trianon.”

It includes the collages,
The complete panoramic view was required if ‘it’ was to be found
It was said the Water buffalo had run of the place, and, in many regards, this was true
In the Looking-Glass gallery I chanced upon a lone Blue sheep
I lingered at length with my fallen companions in the Galerie des Batailles
A chamber suitably unlike the others
Time and time again I ignored advice frequently issued: Look behind! Look behind!
The Canadian lynx knew a thing or two about patience
Neptune’s puma was ready and, as expression goes, waiting
Bearing uncanny resemblance to honeybee hives in the Latona Bassin
I chanced upon the unexpected and I liked it
In the sleeping-room we resisted the great urge to wrinkle the smooth bed covers
Petit and in accordance with good taste; such things set the mind at ease
Geoffry’s cat waited at the Temple of Love, but not in vain, it should be noted
The Common Oyster Catcher planned to live up to their name at the Lord's House
At the mill, I waited for you. You never came
Only a wild cat was capable of such attention to particulars of this kind (Coronation-coach of Charles X)

﹏

RELATED LINK,
OVER MY SHOULDER (I)
THE FIRST OF A HANDFUL OF TINY MOVING VISUALS CAPTURED WITH IPHONE'S AID FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT. FILMED IN THE STATE LIBRARY OF VICTORIA LATE ONE MORNING, REPLETE WITH THE COUGHS AND SHUFFLES OF NEARBY SCHOLARS, AND THE JANGLING OF A BRACELET AS LEFT HAND TRIES TO FOLLOW BRAIN'S COMMAND, THIS IS FOR YOU.

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5/ Gracia Haby
Meet me at the Opéra Theatre and hand in hand we'll go through the streets of Paris (Paris Vues Artistiques)
2009

16 page artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil across the pages of Paris, Vues Artistiques et Panoramiques (établissements papeghin, 24 rue des petites, Paris, France)

 
 
 

In this artists’ book with its monochrome photographic views of Parisian landmarks neatly displayed as tourist’s souvenir to pocket, proportion has once more become a source of play as animals enter stage right. Though the gilt lettering on the cover is now faded, the path ahead holds promise.

 
 
 
 

6/ Gracia Haby
Eager for the old joys once more (Musée Grévin)
2009

Artists’ book, unique state, featuring collage elements and pencil across the pages of a hard-cover book on Musée Grévin, Principaux Tableaux du Musée, Paris, France (Reproduits par la glyptographie, 10 boulevard Montmartre)

 
 
 

An artists’ book twenty-three pages in length, made especially for the exhibition A key to help make your own world visible (2009), it features collage and pencil across reproduits par la glyptographie. There is a hare in le panorama detaille, and someone you may well know seeks an audience in the Vatican. A golden feline bears witness to a crime, a rabbit escapes the carving knife. The laboratory is no place for you, and death comes to us all. The principaux tableaues of the Musée Grévin serve as education.

This artists’ book is in the collection of the University of Melbourne Library.

﹏

RELATED LINKS,
OVER MY SHOULDER (II)
IN THE DOMED READING ROOM OF THE STATE LIBRARY, ONCE AGAIN, WE INVITE YOU TO TURN THE PAGES, THANKS TO IPHONE'S AID. APOLOGIES TO FILM AND VIDEO MAKERS THE WORLD OVER, AND THANK YOU VALERY GERGIEV AND THE VIENNA PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA (TCHAIKOVSKY: SYMPHONY #5 IN E MINOR, OP. 64-3. VALSE: ALLEGRO MODERATO) FOR THE SOUND PLAYING IN THE BACKGROUND.

THE ARTIST AND THE BOOK, MATERIALITY, NUMBER 1: BOOK, PINKNANTUCKET PRESS, 2012

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Gracia Louise http://gracialouise.com
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