Commonplace Books
Historically, a commonplace book held information needed for an individual to live prosperously. It was a personal encyclopedia compiled by its user, containing remedies, recipes, quotes and conversion charts—whatever information the individual required as per her interests and lifestyle. With the rise of almanacs and public libraries, the use of commonplace books declined, the way today's Internet search engines have antiquated many traditional book-based resources. For now, what is commonplace is the accessibility of information, the immediacy of abundant data. In this context the artist revisits the historic genera of the commonplace book, attracted to its expressly analog, offline, and inaccessible qualities, exploring the aggrandizing effects of ubiquitous data on the (private, insular, hermetic, anachronistic . . .) manuscript.
Volume 1: Groundwork for the Autoschematic Engine
"A lacunose registry of disparate schemata, often misquoted, distorted and/or abbreviated"
c.156x100mm, paper, 24 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE, with marbled endpapers and birdseye veneer; pasted title plaque: "Commonplace/ Book/ Volume One/ Eight/ Lemniscates/ Press/ Cat. No. 8L-008/ Copyright 2007/ Sylvanusylvania"; INSCRIBED IN BLACK INK; in original ARTIST BINDING of medium brown cowhide with a yellow-painted "1" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.1.102
Volume 2: Dream Adventurer’s Handbook
"A hypnagogic source book of prompts, totems, and sundry passport endorsements"
c.145x99mm, paper, 24 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE, with marbled endpapers and birdseye veneer; pasted title plaque: "Commonplace/ Book/ Volume II/ Cat. No./8L-012/ Eight/ Lemniscates/ Press/ Copyright 2008/ Sylvanusylvania"; INSCRIBED IN BLACK INK, except radial drawing on flyleaf; in ARTIST BINDING of parchment with a gold-painted "2" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.2.103
Volume 3: Survey of Canton Data
"An ongoing study in creeping normalcy, with time capsule instruction and transcription of the Ludophine tombstone"
c.150x96mm, paper, 28 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE, with black and grey marbled endpapers and wood veneer; INSCRIBED IN BLACK INK; in original ARTIST BINDING of beige-color patent leather with a copper-painted "3" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.3.104
Volume 4: Album of Frolicking Derivations
"An ekphrasis on the Chōjū-jinbutsu-giga scrolls"
c.151x103mm, paper, 28 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE, with black and blue suminagashi endpapers; INSCRIBED IN COLORED INK with washes of white gouache and stamped with the Fifth Forest Atelier seal in eleven places; in original ARTIST BINDING of cool-gray leather with a yellow-painted "4" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.4.119
Volume 5: Glitch Commendations
"A registry of unawards and hollow glory"
c.152x102mm, paper, 22 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE (?), with marbled endpapers and whitewashed inside covers; INSCRIBED IN COLORED INK with decalcomania; in original ARTIST BINDING of embossed white leather with a gold-painted "5" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.5.120
Volume 6: The Liar's Pact
"A compendium of epochal values, infernal compacts, and anti-personnel devices"
c.146x98mm, paper, 22 pages, accordion-style, COMPLETE, with marbled endpapers and suminagashi inside covers; INSCRIBED IN COLORED INK; in original ARTIST BINDING of dark green leather with a copper-painted "6" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.6.121
Volume 7: Book of the Burned Brand
"Red-letter lists embellished with occasional drawings"
c.142x100mm, paper, 38 leaves, COMPLETE, collation: seven quires of six leaves each with i1 pasted to book board, i2 pasted to marbled paper and birdseye veneer (flyleaf), vii6 pasted to marble paper (flyleaf), and vii7 pasted to book board; INSCRIBED IN RED INK with numerous graphite and colored ink drawings throughout; in original ARTIST BINDING of parchment with a yellow-painted "7" over seared "SYLVANUSYLVANIA" firebrand on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.7.122
Volume 8: Seventy-Four Days of Vanity
"Why anyone would want to know more about this book is beyond the comprehension of its author, who refuses to review and summarize its contents, offering instead this explicit non-description.
Reference: 8L.08.8.123
Volume 9: The Numinous Book of Whiles
"Exemplars for the further study of semi-randomness and formulaic nonsense"
c.142x100mm, paper, 38 leaves, COMPLETE, collation: seven quires of six leaves each with i1 pasted to book board, i2 pasted wood veneer (flyleaf), vii6 pasted to wood veneer (flyleaf), and vii7 pasted to book board; PAINTED BEIGE AND WHITE PAGES INSCRIBED WITH RED AND BLUE INK; in original ARTIST BINDING of blue paper with a copper-painted "9" on the front cover.
Reference: 8L.08.9.124
