Vispo print: Er, no / Ivory paper versus white / Vispo book

RTomens, 2020

 

With no intention of referencing Boris Lurie's NO!art concept it did spring to mind when I looked at this piece a few minutes ago. 'No' is the great negative thrown at the Fine Art establishment over the decades. What could be simpler? More direct? Two letters. Two powerful letters. Whilst I've brought many letters into service in the name of creating images none have the power of 'No'. Instead, they have a collective power or, perhaps, subtly effective impact/impression that can only be created by indefinite words as a collection or sample. Further still, the distribution, forming of letters and further still, letters as abstracted, incomplete marks.

I'm currently working on pages torn from a notebook, specifically chosen for the 'ivory' tint of the pages. Pure white, as dramatic as the contrast it creates is, can also be a little...bland? The warmth of ivory is more appealing in the sense of warmth being...attractive....naturally? Do we respond to warm backgrounds with the same primitive instinct that makes a fire instantly appealing?

I'm adding print too, as marks around which text/letters can gather or interact with or sit on, bound by colour. 

There are just 3 copies of my Vispo book, Yes I No, remaining. I've sent them across the globe to the USA and even Australia, the further it goes, the stranger the process of posting feels and, yes, I still marvel at the fact that something I made here in the flat travels first via technology, then as an item handed over (with a prayer) to a postal service taking it right around the world. The strangest journey of all, however, must surely be the one ideas take from one's mind to the fingers that make the images! 

Thanks for calling in. Stay sane!