THREE CONSTITUTIONS

Descripción

folio. two volumes are bound in cloth covered boards, with the third volume bound in stiff paper with an exposed sewn spine. The clamshell houses the two similar volumes under a magnetic cover that holds the books in place while the third volume is housed under an acrylic see-through cover. unpaginated. Limited to 90 copies of which 87 copies are numbered. This copy is thus. Prospectus loosely inserted. All of the typefaces were designed by Russell Maret. The papers are Zerkall Book and Twinrocker Handmade. Amy Borezo designed and executed the binding at Shelter Bookworks. Three separate volumes housed in a three-tray drop-spine case measuring 11.25 x 15.75 x 2.625 inches. Russell Maret, traditionally known for his many different typefaces and the beautifully produced books that are filled by them, has taken a different direction in Three Constitutions. Three Constitutions was created between November 2020 and February 2021, specifically around the 2020 United States presidential election. The surrounding events created much turmoil in the United States, so much so that Maret sought to collect his thoughts and create this book as his interpretation of the current political climate. The following is from the artist's website: - Over the last five years, the content of my printing has steadily changed. Despite my past aversion to overtly political artists books, the social and political upheavals that have riven this country into splinters have slowly seeped into my work. The outrage that has been building inside of me for decades has attained a level of urgency that I can no longer ignore: from the criminal policies of Bushs war on terror, to Obamas enthusiastic embrace of drone assassinations, to the Republican Partys use of Congress as a means for minority rule. These things, and so many more, have gradually changed my understanding of what I want to make and why I want to make it. It is not a change that has been entirely welcome. So I have been exploring ways in which I can make politically inspired work that is both consistent with my aesthetics, and meaningful without being preachy or self-righteous. While choosing the texts for my book Character Traits (2017-2019), I noticed that my choices were colored by the absurd grandiosity of our President and his enablers. The texts I chose referenced these influences in oblique, rather than blatant, terms. Some examples include the Libyan proverb, "My belly before my children," Conrads "Mr. Kurtz lacked restraint in the gratification of his various lusts.," Fernando Pessoas, "I have done more in dreams than Napoleon in life," and Melvilles, "There is no folly of the beasts of the earth which is not infinitely outdone by the madness of men." Though tentative and restrained, these textual choices were a first step into the political realm. The timidity that I felt about bringing politics into my books was absent in my ephemeral work, and while I worked on Character Traits I began printing small mailings that allowed me to directly express my frustration, anger, and helplessness. These pieces ranged from works by Cicero, Aldus Manutius, and W. H. Auden, to simple, blunt statements such as TRAITOR and LOSER. The cards were distributed to friends, colleagues, and, the latter two, to the politicians who are actively working to undermine the principles of our Constitution. Character Traits provoked another significant realization about how my lettering and type design relate to the content of my books. Throughout my career, my lettering has been divided into two distinct categories: large, interpretative letterforms on one hand, and proper, constrained typefaces on the other. For more than twenty years, I have tried unsuccessfully to find ways for these two alphabetical impulses to merge into some hybrid form. What Character Traits taught me was that it was not the lettering, but the content of my books, that was preventing me from doing this. The template I had been using in my work wa. N° de ref. del artículo 135963

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