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Book of the Week — Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ kamā kataba Mār Mattay waḥid min ithnay ‘ashar min talāmīdhihi

19 Monday Jun 2017

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Accademia del Disgno, Aleppo, Alessio dra Saggeto, Antonio Tempesta, Antonius Sionita, arabesque, Arabic, Armenian, Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ, bi-lingual, Book of Hours, borders, Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, Christian, College of Sapienza, colophon, Eastern Orthodox Church, Europe, European, Flemish, Florence, font, French, frescoes, gilt, Giorgio Vasari, Giovanni Battista Raimondi, Gospels, Hebrew, Hungarian, Ibrahim Muteferrika, illustrations, Islam, Islamic, Istanbul, Joannes Stradanus, Latin, Leonardo Parasole, mathematics, Matthew, Medici, military, Mohamedan, morocco, movable type, Muslim, Near East, Orientalist, Ottomon Empire, Palazzo Vecchio, peace, Persian, political, Pope Gregory XIII, printing, religious, Robert Granjon, Romae, Roman Catholic Church, Roman type, Rome, Santi di Tito, science, scripture, sprinkled calf, stamps, Sultan Ahmed III, sword, Syrian, translation, typographer, Typographia Medicea, Vatican, Villa Farnese, Waqf, woodcuts

BS315-A66-1591-title
“Ne arbitremini quod ego uenetim ut mitterem super terram pacem; non ueni ut mitterem pacem, sed gladium (“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.)” — Matthew 10:34

Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ kamā kataba Mār Mattay waḥid min ithnay ‘ashar min talāmīdhihi
Romae: in Typographia Medicea, MDXCI
Edicio princeps
BS315 A66 1591

Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ, the first printed edition of the Gospels in Arabic, is the first production by the Typographia Medicea press, a printing house established by Pope Gregory XIII and Cardinal Ferdinando de’ Medici in order to promote and distribute Christian scripture to the Near East. Two issues of this work were printed, apparently simultaneously. One had Arabic-only text and was printed in an edition of 4,000 copies. The other, here, was printed in Arabic with interlinear Latin, in an edition of 3,000 copies. The Arabic-only edition has the date 1590 on the title-page, but 1591 in the colophon. Allegedly, a few of the bi-lingual copies were published with a preliminary leaf stating, “Sanctum Dei evangelium arab.-lat.” No known copies of this half-title are known to exist and this leaf may never have existed.

With a Latin translation ascribed to one Antonius Sionita, the book was edited by Giovanni Battista Raimondi (1540-ca. 1614), an esteemed Orientalist and professor of mathematics at the College of Sapienza in Rome. Raimondi travelled extensively in the Near East and was knowledgeable, if not fluent, in Arabic, Armenian, Syrian and Hebrew. His fame rests with the editorship of the Typographica Medicea. He and French typographer Robert Granjon, who created the Arabic font used in this work, were both recognized then and now for the earliest and best attempts to print Arabic in Europe.

Illustrated with 149 woodcuts, printed from 68 blocks, engraved by Leonardo Parasole (ca. 1587-ca. 1630). The artist, Antonio Tempesta (1555-1630), studied under Santi di Tito and Flemish artist Joannes Stradanus at the Accademia del Disgno. Tempesta later worked with Stradanus and Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) on the interior decoration of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. Tempesta then travelled to Rome, where he fulfilled several commissions, including frescoes for Pope Gregory XIII in the Vatican and panel paintings for the Villa Farnese. Many of the woodcuts are signed with the initials “AT” (Antonio Tempesta) and “LP” (Leonardo Parasole). The illustrations in Bashārat Yasuʻ al-Masīḥ are excellent examples of Tempesta’s work, noteworthy for their clear composition and narrative of the episodes depicted.

Be that as it may, the illustrations may have played a part in the failure of this book to reach, let alone convince, its intended Islamic audience. Islam forbade religious illustration and these may have made the Gospels appear less than sacred, if not sacrilegious, to Arab Muslim readers.

To be fair, the Christian church had a long tradition of presenting their message with religious illustrations. As far back as the sixth century, Pope Gregory defended the value of such imagery, arguing that pictures were useful for teaching the faith to the unconverted and for conveying sacred stories to the illiterate. According to Bede, St. Augustine introduced Christianity to the heathen King Ethelbert of Kent, upon landing on the British Isles, by presenting a picture of Christ painted on a wooden panel. He then began to preach.

The Pope seems also to have denied the fact that more Christians lived in the Ottoman Empire than in any other European state. The first printed book in Arabic was a Book of Hours, probably intended for export to Syrian Christians. But these Christians were adherents to the Eastern Orthodox Church, not the Pope’s Roman Catholic Church. Christianity was hardly unknown in the predominantly Muslim Ottoman and Persian Empires. The Ottomans were, however, Christian Europe’s major military and political concern.

In addition to printing the Gospels in Arabic, Ferdinando de’ Medici charged Raimondi with printing “all available Arabic books on permissable human science which had no religious content in order to introduce the art of printing to the Mohamedan community.” Despite the superb quality — textually, typographically, and artistically — of its work, the Medici press was an economic failure and went bankrupt in 1610. The fact is that Raimondi displayed little understanding of Islamic culture. Although Raimondi’s selection of publications was not aimed at European scholars, his choices stimulated a study of the Near East in Europe.

It would be more than a century after the Medici Press closed that Ibrahim Muteferrika, a Hungarian convert to Islam, was given permission by Sultan Ahmed III (1673-1736) to open his printing house in Istanbul, in 1729. This was not the first printing press established in the Near East, but it was the first Eastern press to print in Arabic using movable type.

Arabic and small roman type text within double-ruled borders. Colophon and printer’s note to reader in Latin. Colophon decorated with large woodcut arabesque.

Rare Books copy bound in full, eighteenth century, sprinkled calf, with a gilt spine containing two burgundy morocco labels, and decorative gilt borders on the covers. The first leaf is shaved and reinserted on contemporary paper. This leaf contains four Waqf stamps, indicating the authentication of the Arabic translation. As in most copies, our copy lacks a title page. A former owner’s penciled inscription, “Alessio Dra Saggeto/en Aleppo 1871,” is on the free front end paper. Another signature, in ink, is at the top of the back free end paper.

For more on the woodcuts, see Field, Richard S. Antonio Tempesta’s Blocks and Woodcuts for the Medicean 1591 Arabic Gospels, NE662 T45 F54 2001, in the rare book collections.

BS315-A66-1591-colophon

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DOC/UNDOC — Part 5/6, “Open, Explore, Empty, Choose, Reimagine and Collaborate”

30 Wednesday Dec 2015

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accommodations, actress, art, artifact, artwork, audience, borders, Chicano, codex, conflicts, conversation, cultural, debate, dichotomy, DOC/UNDOC Documendado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, dressing room, emotions, English, essay, ethics, ethnicity, Felicia Rice, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Gustavo Vazquez, historical, identity, illegal immigration, images, immigration, interactions, interdisciplinary, interpret, interpretation, Isabel Dulfano, Jennifer González, Julia Menendez Jardon, language, lipstick, Luise Poulton, Marriott Library, Mexico, mirror, misconceptions, narcissism, opinions, paper, perceptions, performance, performer, reflection, scripts, self-identify, sound, Spanish, spectators, toolbox, United States, video, videos, viewer, visual, words, Zachary Watkins

During Fall Semester, 2015, University of Utah graduate students in SPAN6900-2 Analyzing Texts: Form and Content visited Rare Books. During the third and final session with Rare Books, the students were introduced to late 20th century/early 21st century fine press and artists’ books. The session ended with the premiere viewing of our copy of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática , purchased in September. Student response was so strong that managing curator Luise Poulton, in her typical, over-enthusiastic way, exclaimed, “You should post your thoughts on Open Book!” Prof. Isabel Dulfano, in her own enthusiastic way, immediately took up the suggestion and made this a new assignment, right then and there. Bless the beleaguered grad students! Rare Books is pleased to present these responses, one post at a time.

From Julia Menendez Jardon

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

DOC/UNDOC photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

The literary work “We are here because you were there” was written by the Chicano author Guillermo Gómez-Peña. Published in 2014, it addresses a debate which is frequently heard these days in the United States: illegal immigration and whether the US should entirely close borders with Mexico. The story presents two completely opposite points of view which correspond with the two main approaches towards the topic that the US population stands for. It also brings the issue of ethnicity, and how people self-identify through language – in this case, Spanish and English.

The use of one language or another is specially relevant in this work. One of the characters speaks in English but swaps to Spanish in certain occasions, while the other character speaks only English and rejects the Spanish language. Even though the author identifies himself as a Chicano, he writes his text in English, so that the English-speaking audience can understand it without needing any extra accommodations. It is addressed to the speakers of English in the US. The author uses the first person singular when referring to the immigrant persona, and the third person singular when referring to the US resident persona. This allows Gómez-Peña to create an “othering” effect, a dichotomy that confronts the group of people who stand with the immigrants, versus the group of people who stand against them. This story doesn’t allow for shades of gray. There are only two positions: for and against. By confronting the perspectives of two parts of the US population in their native language, this socially engaged work points at the audience, urges them to reflect on a current topic, and encourages them to take a stand about it.

Although “We are here because you were there” could be approached and analyzed as an only item, it has much more to offer. This text is a performance script that belongs to a bigger work called DOC/UNDOC Documendado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática. DOC/UNDOC is a combination of performance scripts by the aforementioned Gómez-Peña, their visual interpretations made by Felicia Rice, experimental videos by Gustavo Vazquez and Gómez-Peña, sound art by Zachary Watkins, and a historical and cultural essay made by Jennifer González. Each of these parts were created so that they could stand alone, but they are meant to be enjoyed together. By adding their different perspectives, these socially engaged creators made a compilation of opinions on hot topics such as ethics and decision-making, immigration, ethnicity, self-expression and self-exploration. This object carries an interdisciplinary component that is specially appealing to the audience because each of its parts were created while cognizant of the other ones’ existence.

But these are not the only interrelations that the spectators will perceive. DOC/UNDOC is heavily based on the cooperation between the audience and the artifact. From the very beginning, the instructions advise to “OPEN, EXPLORE, EMPTY, CHOOSE, REIMAGINE and COLLABORATE.”

And so we did. A little more than a week ago, my classmates and I explored this artifact thanks to our professor and two members of the Marriott library. OPEN. When we entered the room, the most noticeable part was the big metal box with the display of objects within, and the face mask that was standing on the same table.

We approached this discoverer toolbox, and I saw my reflection in the mirror. It was framed by the two vertical rows of lights and the pink fake fur that made me think I looked like an old time movie actress. I instantly thought that probably everybody else was watching me look at myself in the mirror, and I thought for a second on the degree of narcissism that being a performer must involve. I looked at myself again and I thought I was the actress. EXPLORE. The image of myself that was staring at me was trying to show different emotions. It was looking a little bit calmer than I actually was. It was looking at the sides of the box and at the pink fur, when I only wanted to look at the mirror again. I looked down at the objects and carefully examined the lipstick bar and the tin box that contained the deck of cards. I thought about the toolbox’s potential: it was a playground for grown-ups. If alone under those dressing room lights, one could adopt any identity. I was adopting a different identity already, fueled by my classmates’ ideas and assumptions. I saw my own perceptions been challenged, and I accepted. EMPTY. The image of an especially smooth piece of clay being kneaded came to my mind every now and then.

The most unsettling part of my experience began when the video started playing. I had to make a big effort to try to understand the message behind each of the clips. CHOOSE. I believed that I did not interpret the right message behind some of the videos and, after discussing with my classmates, I concluded that the important goal is to find an interpretation that convinces you as a viewer and to discuss with other watchers to keep the conversation that the creators wanted to develop.

After the videos, we walked again towards the table, and the sound clips started playing.

REIMAGINE. The characteristics of the sound reminded me of the videos I had just watched, but this time the experience was completely different. There was no image associated with it, and the visual input that I was receiving was the art that appeared in the codex. I flipped through the pages, not trying to direct my attention to any of the parts in particular. I was paying attention to the words, but also having different thoughts about each of the images I was seeing. I thought about the quality of the artwork, the thickness of the paper, and the interactions between the images and the performance scripts.

20151201_155243

COLLABORATE. Then, we all started talking. Everybody in the room started to point at different things that they had thought about during the video, the meaning they had found to some parts of the codex, and even the possible relationships between the discoverer toolbox and the sound clips or the videos. None of us was imposing any interpretation or point of view, but we were all trying to find evidences to support each others opinions.

This is an object that targets all the five senses in multiple ways that the audience might like or might not like, but the experience will still be a remarkable one. Not only does DOC/UNDOC facilitate self-discovery and self-expression, but it also encourages the individuals to share their opinions and perceptions. In a world of conflicts and misconceptions, this piece advocates for a pause to work on each others’ understanding.

20151201_155252

Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, et al. DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática. Santa Cruz, CA: Moving Parts Press, 2014.

Coming soon: Laura Denisse Zepeda

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DOC/UNDOC — Part 4/6, “Ambiguous, Unclassifiable, Undefinable Identity”

29 Tuesday Dec 2015

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ambiguous, ancestry, apprentice, Ars Shamánica Performática, art, artistic, artists' books, audience, blood, borders, boundaries, Catholicism, Chicanos, collaboration, comb, complancence, country, crucifix, Dallas Fawson, Doc/Undoc, DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, DVD, English, European, Felicia Rice, fine press, Guillermo Gomez Peña, hat, heritage, identity, iguana, indigenous, Isabel Dulfano, J. Willard Marriott Library, Luise Poulton, mask, metaphor, Mexican, mirror, Moving Parts Press, music, mustache, oils, performance art, poems, rare books, Rare Books Classroom, residence, shamans, skull, snakes, soundtrack, Spanish, spectator, sweat, symbol, tattoos, underground, United States, University of Utah, video, world

During Fall Semester, 2015, University of Utah graduate students in SPAN6900-2 Analyzing Texts: Form and Content visited Rare Books. During the third and final session with Rare Books, the students were introduced to late 20th century/early 21st century fine press and artists’ books. The session ended with the premiere viewing of our copy of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, purchased in September. Student response was so strong that managing curator Luise Poulton, in her typical, over-enthusiastic way, exclaimed, “You should post your thoughts on Open Book!” Prof. Isabel Dulfano, in her own enthusiastic way, immediately took up the suggestion and made this a new assignment, right then and there. Bless the beleaguered grad students! Rare Books is pleased to present these responses, one post at a time.

From Dallas Fawson

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

DOC/UNDOC photo courtesy of Moving Press Parts

In the Rare Books Classroom at the J. Willard Marriott Library, The University of Utah, our Spanish 6900 class had the pleasure of experiencing DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática (2014), a multi-genre work of art which is the ultimate expression of the central theme of Guillermo Gómez-Peña’s collective body of work: crossing borders. This theme is central to the piece, an unclassifiable combination of artists’ books, performance art videos, underground music, and what the collaborators have called “a traveling case for apprentice shamans,” a heavy container which includes a plethora of objects such as a mirror, a Luchador mask, a comb, and the dried foot of an iguana. With this work, Gómez-Peña and the various artists with whom he collaborated have created a piece of art which crosses both thematic and aesthetic borders, and in that way challenges notions of genre, authorship, and the relationship between a work of art and its spectator.

Given his mixed ancestry and current country of residence, it is unsurprising that the idea of crossing borders has permeated Gómez-Peña’s artistic world. As a Mexican residing in the United States, Gómez-Peña has literally and symbolically crossed borders: his mixture of Spanish and Indigenous blood, as well as his decision to reside in the United States, have given him a flexible identity which is typical of Chicanos, people of Mexican descent residing in the United States. I believe that, in many ways, Documentado/Undocumented serves as an elaborate metaphor for this unclassifiable identity.

Due to the fact that he is a performance artist, it is unsurprising that the theme of crossing borders exists not only in Gómez-Peña’s writing, but also on his own body in the form of tattoos. On the DVD which forms part of Documentado/Undocumented, the viewer has several opportunities to glimpse the artist’s heavily tattooed torso. On one half of his chest, we see a man with a European style hat and mustache; on the other, a skull. And connecting these two images is a crucifix intertwined with snakes. This symbol is useful in two ways: first, it serves as an intriguing artistic representation of the mixture of heritages which make up Gómez-Peña’s identity. The European imagery, such as the mustached man with the hat, contrasts with the Indigenous Mexican symbolism found in the skull. Furthermore, the snake-entwined crucifix which joins these two images can be seen as a symbol for the mixture of Indigenous beliefs and European Catholicism which help to define the identities of many Mexicans today, and in this way showcases Gómez-Peña’s mixed heritage.

This complex tattoo also reveals the way in which Gómez-Peña has crossed borders with his art. Rather than limiting himself to a single genre, Gómez-Peña writes poetry, collaborates with visual artists, and even creates visceral performances using his own body to push artistic boundaries- that is, to cross borders. In fact, Documentado/Undocumented itself is not exclusively a work by Guillermo Gómez-Peña, but rather a collaboration with several other artists, such as Felicia Rice, who designed the artists’ books which form part of the collection. In this way, the work not only pushes the boundaries of art, but also of artistry: what exactly is Documentado/Undocumented, and who should receive credit for it? I believe the work is meant to be ambiguous and undefinable, and therefore serve as a metaphor for the mixed identity of Guillermo Gómez-Peña and other Chicanos, who do not necessarily have a single culture with which they identify.

This artistic border crossing is present in every aspect of Documentado/Undocumented, including the title, which contains a dual binary: the juxtaposition of being documented and undocumented, and the mixture of the English and Spanish languages, two presences which reflect the reality of many Mexicans living in the United States. In spite of the various references to European and Mexican culture, however, it should be noted that Gómez-Peña does not limit himself artistically to these influences. One fascinating aspect of the work is the soundtrack which accompanies it, which includes aggressive, underground musical genres, such as death metal and electro-industrial. Although this may seem arbitrary, it is important to realize that these are genres which also push artistic boundaries. Electro-industrial, for example, is an eclectic genre which mixes elements of heavy metal, electronic dance music, and hip-hop style production. By including these disparate elements, it is a genre which defies classification.

The inclusion of such polarizing musical genres serves at least two purposes. First, it further pushes the boundaries of genres: not only does Documentado/Undocumented include a soundtrack, something which is already atypical of artists’ books, but one containing genres of extreme music with limited audiences. Secondly, it prevents complacence from the audience. In his writing, Gómez-Peña makes it clear that he wants to push people from all sides of the political and social spectrum. In fact, one of the poems included in the work directly addresses the ways in which he is able to offend both liberal and conservative audiences, something which he presents as an artistic obligation on his part. By pushing boundaries from every direction, Gómez-Peña and his collaborators insure that no one will walk away from the work unmoved.

It is important to discuss a final way in which Gómez-Peña and the other artists who worked on this project have crossed borders, and that is with respect to the relationship between a work of art and its spectators. Rather than something which is meant to be admired from afar, the “traveling case for apprentice shamans” is meant to be heavily interacted with. In one of the videos which is included with the set, Gómez-Peña expresses his desire for the spectators to leave some of their sweat and oils behind on the objects included in the case. This desire demonstrates another way in which the artists have crossed borders: rather than the common view that works of art are meant to be perfectly preserved, interaction with this piece is not only possible, but encouraged. This element, which in my opinion is what truly makes Documentado/Undocumented unique, is a final symbol of how Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Felicia Rice and the other collaborators have created an indefinable work of art which crosses aesthetic and thematic borders.

20151201_155144

“Doc/Undoc | Art | UC Santa Cruz.” Web. 14 Dec. 2015.
Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, et al. DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica
Performática. Santa Cruz, CA: Moving Parts Press, 2014.

Coming soon: Julia Menendez Jardon

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DOC/UNDOC — Part 3/6, “This Type of Trespass”

23 Wednesday Dec 2015

Posted by rarebooks in Uncategorized

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accordion, Alexander Calder, archival, art, artist, audio, books, border, borders, boundary, Carl Andre, ceramic, children, codex, comments, communication, definitions, dialogue, dialogues, dice, DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, Donald Judd, experiences, fashion, fragmented, Francisco X. Alarcon, Guillermo Gomez Peña, Gyula Kosice, ideas, iguanas, impression, Isabel Dulfano, J. Willard Marriott Library, Joaquín Torres-García, Jorge Luis Borges, Joseph Beuys, literary analysis, Luise Poulton, Lygia Clark, Marta Minujín, medium, mobiles, mystery, objects, oils, Pablo Neruda, performance art, performances, performative, Peter Tanner, Piedras del Cielo, plexiglass, rare books, Rare Books Department, reader, requests, rhetoric, Santa, sculpture, Siete Poemas Sajones, sounds, Spanish, sweat, three-dimensional, toys, transgressive, trespass, University of Utah, videos, viewer, visual

During Fall Semester, 2015, University of Utah graduate students in SPAN6900-2 Analyzing Texts: Form and Content visited Rare Books. During the third and final session with Rare Books, the students were introduced to late 20th century/early 21st century fine press and artists’ books. The session ended with the premiere viewing of our copy of DOC/UNDOC Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática, purchased in September. Student response was so strong that managing curator Luise Poulton, in her typical over-enthusiastic way, exclaimed, “You should post your thoughts on Open Book!” Prof. Isabel Dulfano, in her own enthusiastic way, immediately took up the suggestion and made this a new assignment, right then and there. Bless the beleaguered grad students! Rare Books is pleased to present these responses, one post at a time.

 

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Parts Press

Doc/Undoc photo courtesy of Moving Parts Press

From Peter Tanner

The work of Guillermo Gómez-Peña has always caused quite a stir. The manner in which he has maintained a dialogue with, around, and trespassed over the subject of borders and in particular definitions that have been accepted as fixed in defining such borders, has always raised open questions that his viewer, or reader in this case, must confront in order to establish their own relationship to his work. The art book/performative book DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática (2014) is a work that questions the fashion in which the book is both a static and malleable medium for communication of both ideas and experiences. When one interacts with this work one is forced to cross one’s own limits as to what can and should or should not be done with an object of obvious value, which is also meant to be used and discovered. To illustrate I will describe my first encounter with this phenomenal performative work/performative book.

Several colleagues and I from my department (Spanish) were viewing many extraordinary limited edition artistic texts that are held by the Rare Books Department at The University of Utah’s J. Willard Marriott Library. Works such as Francisco X. Alarcon’s De Amor Oscuro, Pablo Neruda’s Piedras del Cielo, and Jorge Luis Borges Siete Poemas Sajones are just a few of the amazing collection held by the library. All of these texts were developed with the highest quality craftsmanship and when possible the direct collaboration and input of the artist. While these texts were fascinating for their quality, and the fact that the text in some cases they had actually been handled and signed by the author, for example the Borges book, they are none the less texts that are beautiful books to be owned and perused with the hands, mind, and eyes of the reader. However, the performative text by Guillermo Gómez-Peña was a different experience entirely.

De Amor Oscuro, 1991

De Amor Oscuro, 1991

Las Piedras del Cielo, 1981

Las Piedras del Cielo, 1981

Siete Poemas Sajones, 1974

Siete Poemas Sajones, 1974

The case for the performative book contained several traditional collections of works of visual art that, while much more visual oriented than those of the texts listed above, were still in book format (either codex, accordion format or a more contemporary edge book binding were used). The difference between these more traditional texts and the more performative text of Gómez-Peña was apparent in the reaction of my colleagues to my exploration of the text. Before I explain my experience delving beneath the protective plexiglass, which separated the traditional texts from the more performative elements found below, I should say something regarding the history of interactive art.

From arguably the 1920’s forward there has been a movement in art that involved the idea of not just having a work of art to behold, but rather one that must be manipulated to be fully appreciated. Some early examples are Alexander Calder’s mobiles, and Joaquín Torres-García’s manipulable toys for children. Later works such as Lygia Clark’s Bichos and Máscaras sensoriais; Gyula Kosice’s kinetic sculptures, Carl Andre’s minimalist tile patterned floor displays, as well as Donald Judd’s sculptures required either manipulation or activation by the presence of the viewer/participant to complete the experience with the work in a three-dimensional world. This of course also relates to the dialogues that performance artists such as Joseph Beuys and Marta Minujín present to the world that must relate in some fashion to their work, and in the case of Minujín the environments that she produces. These types of works are fantastic examples where art breaks down the barrier between life and art, the more common interpretation of the effect of these works. They also reinforce the fact that the viewer, unless initiated to the need to trespass, will not understand that they are supposed to interact with the work and allow the work to facilitate their crossing the border between life and art. It is this very transgression of the boundary between visual witness of a work versus participation that Gómez-Peña seeks to break down.

The need for participation now explained, I was absolutely giddy at the chance to interact with the work of so transgressive an artist as Gómez-Peña. As a group we looked at the traditional texts and looked at all the objects behind the plexiglass resting in the bottom of the case. The plexiglass rested upon the tops of small partitions within the bottom of the metal case that serves as the container of all the books, objects, sounds, and videos that form this piece. Each partition below the plexiglass contained a collection of objects, some of which were easily visible, though much remained invisible, placed with in small velveteen-looking bags. Extending from the partitions tops and protruding through holes in the plexiglass are buttons that could be pressed by the viewer to activate a recording that would be played by the sound system also contained in the “books” box-like metal case.

While my colleagues looked on I couldn’t help but ask if we could remove the plexiglass and examine, that is touch, fondle, and explore the items within the case. At that moment there was a sort of awkward laugh that went around the group. The laughter seemed to express two feelings: the first, there he goes again with odd requests and comments; the second, of course he will not be allowed or actually ever touch the items in the case, it is after all behind the plexiglass. In retrospect this perceived reaction illustrated to me the way that we all seem to let ourselves be contained by the expectation that the glass, the plexiglass in this case, is not meant to be transgressed when it comes to those objects that we are visually told are archival, and thus separate because someone has set them apart.

When I was told that the plexiglass could be removed, and that I could examine, that is touch and explore the objects, I waited with anticipation while my colleagues watched, seemingly unsure of what to do. I further asked if I could touch everything and get into each and every velveteen bag. I was told I could, and so I did. A plethora of objects that were at times both disparate though connected fell out of each bag into my hands, including collections of fragmented body parts: ceramic heads, arms, legs, and even an iguanas severed and preserved paw. There were two sets of dice, which I picked up and rolled, to see if they were loaded (they weren’t). I tried on the pair of flip lens sun glasses and said to my colleagues, “I am seeing you with the artists’ eyes.” They laughed. There were only two things I did not get to either use or try on, the luchador mask (which I did hold but did not wear), and a metal container that was shrink wrapped. I was not permitted to open it this final container (a mystery never to be solved). Only one or two of my colleagues handled any of the objects, and no one handled them all like I did. It was amazing to hold them, to see the mystery unfold and realize that, as the video and audio performances state, I was leaving my impression or trace upon each object that I held, with my own oils and sweat. More importantly, I feel that by transgressing the plexiglass border, that I was fulfilling not only the intention of the artist as he sought to have his viewer/reader move beyond their own boundaries, but also, and I do not mean to be egotistical but I cannot think of another way to say it, modeling this type of trespass for my colleagues that seemed more or less unwilling to cross the boundary.

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This type of work is meant to cause the viewer/participant to not only trespass the art/life border of the object imbued with the aura of artistic production, but also to cross over the porous definitions that we use around us. To investigate something unfamiliar one must experience something outside of one’s comfort zone. It is the very investigation of definitions beyond those that one sets upon oneself that facilitates the reformation and discovery of perspectives beyond one’s own, both conceptual and physical as this work demonstrates. By this kind of questioning the significance of the boundary as a fixed and defined concept is also redefined as more porous and flexible than perhaps previously believed. Ironically, for those that choose to not cross such boundaries, even in the most cursory way, their choice is one that solidifies the boundaries defining rhetoric. This then, at least to me, presents a third option, one which Gómez-Peña has always had as a guiding influence, what is the place of those that are undefined within a system that requires definitions? Are rights only available by functioning within established definitions? What is lost when is one is left undefined? What is their relationship to the definitions and those who both define as well as leave undefined all such positions? Works such as this one by Gómez-Peña, et al., open up all sorts of new concepts for the viewer’s/reader’s contemplation. Not the least of which is, is this a book or a work of art or both in a new hybrid performative format? You can choose for yourself, but I beg you, please move past the plexiglass.

Gómez-Peña, Guillermo, et al. DOC/UNDOC: Documentado/Undocumented Ars Shamánica Performática. Santa Cruz, CA: Moving Parts Press, 2014.

Coming soon: Dallas Fawson

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Book of the Week – The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers

25 Monday Feb 2013

Posted by rarebooks in Book of the Week

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Arabic, Arts and Crafts, bookbindings, borders, copper engravings, Cranbrook Educational Community, Cranbrook Press, Edmund Booth, Edward Miller, George Gough Booth, illuminated, initials, Jean Eschmann, ornamental borders, publisher, tail pieces, William Caxton, William Morris, woodcuts

The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers. 1901

The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers. 1901

The Dicts and Sayings of the Philosophers
Abu al Wafa Mubashshir ibn Fatik (11th century)
Detroit, MI: The Cranbrook Press, 1901
B745 D5 M8 1901

George Gough Booth, publisher of the Evening News (which became The Detroit News) became so enamored of the Arts and Crafts movement that he based the Cranbrook Educational Community he founded on William Morris’ philosophy. Booth established, with the help of Edward Miller, the Cranbrook Press, which published illuminated books. Jean Eschmann created fine bookbindings for the publications. This is Lord Rivers’ translation of Tignonville’s French version of the Dict philosoporum, a collection of sayings originally compiled in Arabic. It was first printed in English by William Caxton. Printed by Edmund Booth. Woodcut initials, borders, head and tail pieces from designs by George G. Booth, including two original copper engravings, from drawings by De Voss W. Driscoll. Some pages surrounded by ornamental borders. University of Utah copy is no. 109.

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