Study Art - Peter Müller (Germany) [Verlach Friedichrodaer Hefte]

From my favourite book artist in Bremen:
Study Art

Unnumbered book of loosely bound copies of paintings which appear to have watercolor beginnings and digital endings.  Included in this sending were three other books and three prints from a “set of single cards”, a series of 39, numbered 1, 10 and 11.

“for breeding or bounty

for fun or fame

for prestige or spite

for style or glory

for pride or power

for profit or hobby”

This book is based on the words/work of John Waters from an exhibition in Baltimore:

 "This is a weirdly Baltimore-based work," Waters said.

"Many years ago, there was a real sign for a real art school in Baltimore on St. Paul Street below 25th Street. It said, 'Study Art for profit or hobby,' which is about the most politically incorrect thing you can say if you're an artist. I loved the sign and was astounded by it. It was completely unironic, and I decided to parody it."

And Peter decided to interpret it.

Step into England's Story - Dean - Artist in Seine

Unique artists book. No 1444 dated 26th February 2017.  I don't think 1444 represents the amount of books Dean has made, and I always have to chuckle when I type Deans name-game - it resonates so well... Accompanying the story of England  was a note which said he was taking a break from Mail Art for a couple of years. Mail Art is a demanding task master, as those of you who have been held in its thrall understand. Its compelling and compulsive; the free exchange, the over flowing post box, the spawned ideas, but, being so demanding, it requires large storage space,  a special postage account and loads of time. I can see the time Dean has taken to tell the story of England. Its a small collage book which I know took a LONG time to make. It's humorous, witty and I think has a taste of home sickness.  Dean, many thanks - your mail has always charmed - thanks for taking the time to make a parting gift - you're in the company of C T Chew, who as I'm sure you know has also retired from  The Game. Take care and yes, I'm keeping your details :-)X

VISPO (Books One and Two)

VISPO (Books One and Two)

I well remember the rush when the announcement was made in December 2011 that there would be a collaborative vispo book on the IUOMA website. Once the call was placed in ether, places for the two books filled quickly.  The call was taken up by artists from USA, UK, Argentina, Russia, Belgium, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and South Africa - a fabulous selection of Mail Artists, some new to the genre and some longtime practitioners of this visual form of poetry. I was in the process of writing for the catalogue of The New Alexandrian Library, but far prefer material from De Villo Sloan’s introductions to the two collaborations.  From Book Two: “The visual poetry concept, for most of us, is best understood through the lenses of painting, photography, collage, video and similar genres: Contemporary cultures program us to be adept at reading visual images, image sequences (from montage in film), and visual syntax. We can readily accept the notion that written and printed language is part of the larger visual image landscape. Thus, it is plausible that text and image can be integrated to create metaphor, rhetoric, lyricism, narrative, non-linearity, form and even visual prosody – elements associated with literary tradition and the notion of the poetic".

"What is less apparent, but revealed especially by the work in this edition, is that the “Great Tradition” of poetry has evolved in such a way that visual poetry is now a viable, if not a desirable, genre in the post-literature of the 21^st century”.

If you are interested in visual poetry as an art form, I would suggest you take the time to read the introductions to these books, as they are succinct and insightful commentaries on this poetic form.

See:  http://iuoma-network.ning.com/group/collaborativemailartbooks/forum/topics/introductions-for-editions-1-2-collaborative-visual-poetry

Müller, Peter (Germany) Verlach Friedichrodaer Hefde. Living at Home.

Living at Home

Unnumbered artists book of photocopied images taken on travels through South Africa. I KNOW these places, and I hope the title suggests that Peter felt right at home in our beautiful country.  There are many thinks that make for ‘home’, but one of the major contributors are good memories, where it does not matter where on earth one is, just that one feels at home.

Müller, Peter (Germany) Verlach Friedichrodaer Hefde - Hinterland

Hinterland (boredom and tristesse) - beyond your boundaries

Peter is an avid traveller and I think he has traversed the corners of the world. Hinterland is comprised of images taken in Queensland Australia - a part I know quite well. It is curious the way the banal follows humans, yet for each human involved there are layers of complexity in the ordinary.  This appears to be life in its most abject state of melancholy sadness. Its interesting too, the treatment of the images.   They are ‘filed’ in no particular shape or order or fold, just layered in a manila folder and although randomness is suggested, I think Peter’s ways are far more multifaceted than that.

Müller, Peter (Germany) Verlach Friedichrodaer Hefde

General Note:

As stated in my Blog on one of Peters books for An Encyclopedia of Everything, http://an-encyclopedia-of-everything.blogspot.com ,I don’t know much about Peter Müller, except to say that I think he is a prolific, generous artist who works in multiples with digitally altered photographs being his main interest.  Further conversation with him has revealed that his multiple edition books are up to edition of 15 and he recombines common articles of ‘unnoticed beauty’ in order to see their structure.  This act removes the ordinary, unnoticed products/byproducts of consumerism into the realm of art.  The ‘thing’ becomes an open-ended experiment and can be seen as a collection of data from a specific place which gives testimony to the context of a particular journey.

diffuse II

Unnumbered edition book of inkjet prints, digitally altered photographs 21cm x 9cm x 1cm, Glue bound, composite hard card cover (800grm?), 80gm paper.  The images are reflections, shadows, light rays - visual information which is rendered abstract by the manner in which it has been photographed/digitally manipulated.  The inkjet printed nature of the images also renders them unclear, adding to title context.

Give aways for the deceased

Unnumbered edition book of inkjet prints, digitally altered photographs 30cm x 9.5cm x .5cm, composite hard card cover (400grm?), 40 gram paper.  Cropped photographs which render abstractions in food and commercial goods/the mundane, photographed in Japan.   A play on ‘a dead giveaway’?

japonais

Unnumbered edition book of  36 inkjet prints, digitally altered photographs, including collage, art filters and overlays.  Glue bound, 21cm x 9cm x 1cm, hard  cover coated with paper made from dried leaves, cloth spine,  (800grm?) 80 gram paper.  japonais is French for Japanese - things pertaining to Japan, its people or its language.