A BOOK ABOUT DEATH: AN UNBOUND BOOK ON THE SUBJECT OF DEATH

Opening, Thursday, 10 September 2009. Exhibition: 10 - 22 September 2009
Emily Harvey Foundation 537 Broadway New York City, New York 10012 USA

Artists Produce Each An Edition Of 500 Postcards In A Sprawling Unbound Book About Death. 1000 (or more) pages, edition: 500.

An Open Call To Artists Worldwide To Contribute To A BOOK ABOUT DEATH.

DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 5, 2009
Cards Must Be In The Gallery By This Date!


A BOOK ABOUT DEATH is an open, unbound book produced by artists worldwide. Thousands of artists are invited to create a "page" in the form of a postcard about death– any aspect about death. Works can be of any design, personal or conceptual, color or black and white.

The original work about death stays with you, the artist; the 500 postcards produced from the work is for the exhibition, and are sent to the gallery.

NOTE: YOU CAN HAND PRODUCE THE CARDS WITH STENCILS, SILKSCREENS, STICKERS. YOU CAN ALSO SEND 500 CDs IF YOU ARE A MUSICIAN OR VIDEO ARTIST. BE CREATIVE, REINVENT THE WHEEL. ALL WORKS ACCEPTED.

Artists can include any information about themselves on the cards, front or back.

The 500 post cards are then mailed to the gallery in New York City for exhibition.

A BOOK ABOUT DEATH takes its inspiration from the late, underground American artist Ray Johnson (1927 - 1995). Ray Johnson’s unbound “book” of the same title was mailed to his New York Correspondence School “students” and included pages in his idiosyncratic style that were funny, sad and ironic “one-page essays” on death. With the A BOOK ABOUT DEATH project, artists are invited to plunge into the subject in creating their own pages that score the dramatic final dance of death.

EXHIBITION & EVENT: Each artist contribution will be displayed in the Emily Harvey Foundation gallery space in New York. Visitors will be free to take cards and create their own book about death. As the cards are removed, the exhibition will disappear.

During the exhibition, a lecture/panel discussion will take place with a number of leading writers, curators, artists and collectors bringing together a number of salient ideas about death, books, mail art works, Ray Johnson and the global nature of A BOOK ABOUT DEATH. The panel list will be announced when it is finalized this summer.

There is now the main artist "wall" website:

http://abookaboutdeath.net/

up and running. It will also serve as the portal for the exhibition and a permanent exhibition of the "book."


HOW TO SUBMIT
1. Produce an artwork about death. Make 500 postcards and mail the package to A BOOK ABOUT DEATH c/o Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery 537 Broadway New York City, New York 10012. All submissions will be accepted if they arrive in time. Artists may produce more than one card if they wish.

DEADLINE: Postcards should be in the gallery no later than 5 September 2009.

2. Once images are produced, a LARGE but light-weight jpg (200K or 900 x 600 pixels) should be e mailed to MATTHEW.ROSE.PARIS@GMAIL.C

OM, along with the artist's name and URL (artist web site address) for publication on the blog – http://abookaboutdeath.blogspot.com/. This will allow the organizers to archive the works and artist details. Other artists will also be able to visit the exhibition in progress. BUT SEND A LARGE SIZE JPG so when it appears on the blog and the website it will be very visible.

Caterina Verde designed the "wall" here:

http://abookaboutdeath.net/

A program is now being built for artists to upload their images and information directly to the web site. An announcement will be made shortly.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
The artist is 100 percent responsible for her/his image and card and delivery to the gallery.

FORMAT: Postcards should be at least 4 x 6 inches or 10 x 15 cm, but can be any size, but no larger than A4 or 8 1/2 x 11 inches.

To unify the edition, please include the words A BOOK ABOUT DEATH on your printed post cards. This is critical. Please do not forget this design element. We have also included an image/text by Ray Johnson that could be printed on your cards.

You do NOT have to include information about the venue (gallery address or dates). Artists are free to do as they like. We only ask that they included the text A BOOK ABOUT DEATH in any size, any type style, any language, somewhere on the card, CD or object.

PRINTING OPTIONS: You can either produce the cards yourself or upload the file to any number of printers for delivery to the gallery. You, as the artist are in complete control of your artwork and cards.

Option 1: A very inexpensive online printer offers extremely reasonable prices for a 4 x 6 inch (or 10 x 15 cm) card. PDF upload or online design is possible. Payment directly to the printer via MasterCard, PayPal, VISA are options. Please see: http://www.overnightprints.com/main.php.

Please note: The exhibition organizers are not working with this printer but in our research have determined that their prices are some of the lowest on the market, their print quality is high, service is good and delivery to a NYC address via United Parcel Service is a very good option.

Option 2: Alternately, artists are free to produce their own cards locally if they need to supervise print and image quality. Artists can sign and number their cards if they wish.

Option 3: Artists can also produce handmade cards, however, these cards must be in an edition of 500 to ensure continuity with other images. Artists can sign and number their handmade cards if they would like. Variety in paper and material is encouraged.

IMPORTANT: WHERE TO SEND THE 500 POSTCARDS:

The Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery
537 Broadway 2nd Floor
New York City, New York 10012 USA

Tel +1 212 925 7651


COST/FEES
Unfortunately we cannot pay any artist or production fees. Each artist has to finance production and delivery. Like in life.

LASTLY: The organizers will not collect cards for the artists. Institutions who wish to have a complete book will have to come to the gallery space and get their own pages/cards or assign someone to do it for them. The organizers are not responsible for the cards, but will see to it that all cards received are displayed and available to visitors. The organizers are not responsible for the return of any remaining cards; should there be any remaining cards, these will become part of the EHF archive.

SPREAD THE WORD
This kind of exhibition functions best when one artist contacts another and encourages participation. We would like to have a large and inclusive "book," one that touches upon the broad subject of death in many languages and cultures. There are no taboos here, no age limits, no areas or ideas that are prohibited. The exhibition organizers only ask that you submit good work, worthy of an interesting and exciting page in this global book. Please note that A BOOK ABOUT DEATH is not a commercial venture. The Emily Harvey Foundation Gallery has generously donated the exhibition space for the duration of the exhibition.

INFORMATION:

http://abookaboutdeath.net/
http://abookaboutdeath.blogspot.com/
http://www.emilyharveyfoundation.org/
http://rayjohnsonestate.com/

FRANÇAIS : http://matthew.rose.paris.googlepages.com/unlivresurlamort
ESPANOL: http://matthew.rose.paris.googlepages.com/abookaboutdeathunlibrosobrelamuerte
ITALIANO: http://matthew.rose.paris.googlepages.com/unlibrosullamorte


PRINTING:

GOT PRINT: http://gotprint.net/g/showStaticPage.do?page=postcards_pricing.html

OVERNIGHT PRINTS: http://www.overnightprints.com/

IMPORTANT!!! TYPE IN CODE: POSTCARDSALE

...without it you will not receive the DISCOUNT!


SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS EXHIBITION TODAY. BLOG, TWITTER, E MAIL THE URL : http://abookaboutdeath.blogspot.com/