April 2010 Archives

The Washington Informer recently ran an article on the challenge of finding reasonably priced artwork for your home. Their solution? 20x200.

Monet Spells writes:

When I first used 20x200, I was looking for a series of photographs to frame and place on a wall. After several fruitless attempts, I came across 20x200 where I could search the art by color scheme and size. Presented with this option, I could purchase art based on the colors I wished to accent or the size of the space I wanted to fill. This flips the concept of purchasing art on its head because you typically buy art and then find a space. I selected a color and browsed several pieces where the color was an accent or dominant component, making it easy to tailor the art for my purposes.

You can read the rest of the article over at The Washington Informer's website, and then head back to 20x200 to browse art by color and tag.

The Silverstein Photography Annual at Bruce Silverstein Gallery provides a unique opportunity for a very select group of photographers: to be chosen specifically for an exhibition by a single curator representing a local art institution. Guided by curatorial adviser Nathan Lyons, ten curators nominated ten artists who they felt deserved "the opportunity for further exposure within New York's cultural milieu." The show opened last Saturday, with work addressing nature, class, performance, identity, urbanity and exploration, and includes ten talented photographers from all over the world.

Apartment Building No. 101 (Korea Diary and Ship (Korea Diary) by Juliane Eirich

The exhibition features three works from Juliane Eirich's Korea Diary, a series created during her eighteen months stay in Seoul, South Korea in 2007 and 2008. Eirich limited herself to taking one photograph each day, and the resulting images are a carefully edited visual journal of her time there. Eirich was selected for the exhibition by Mara Hoberman of the Hunter College Art Galleries, who writes of Eirich's work:

In addition to making for dramatic light/dark contrasts and a surreal sense of flattened space, the nighttime setting and feeling of remove emphasize the photographer’s distinct outsider perspective. Eirich’s chosen subjects give off the impression of having been furtively, yet assiduously, observed under the cover of night.

Hoberman also commends Eirich's extreme restraint and meticulous process, noting:

That Eirich restricted the use of her camera to document solely what she deemed to be the most arresting, unusual, or beautiful moment of each 24-hour period is a remarkable exercise in self-editing. The fact that she used an analog camera, tripod, and long exposure technique indicates her technical skill and patience. Given the options available with digital photography—seemingly unlimited memory cards and foolproof automated settings—Eirich’s practice is refreshingly restrained and deliberate.

Eirich's images are often focused on singular objects, at night—a boat, a pair of shoes, a house—while fellow artist Dana Miller, whose work is also featured in the show, looks at spaces that bridge the urban gap between the wilderness and the concrete.

Untitled (Van Cortlandt Park) by Dana Miller

Miller's photographs come from her project, End of the Line, a reference to the train lines that transported her to the pockets of overgrowth seen in the series. Sean Corcoran of the Museum of the City of New York, who selected Miller's work, explains his attracting to the images:

Miller’s appealing photographs quietly consider their subjects. Despite the presence of the “hand of man” in every image, the photographs’ lush, organic color palate and atmospheric light are aesthetically pleasing. A clear struggle emerges—Japanese barberry attacks concrete walls and Douglas-fir take on chain link fences—yet there appears to be an uneasy truce, some kind of harmony. Perhaps this is a result of the picture plane being compressed and appearing flat, like an ukyio-e print—an image of a floating world—or, in one instance, a shopping cart.

Miller invites the textures of her landscapes to run full bleed to the edge, so that the murky waters or tree branches that comprise the images' centers are often patterns mimicked at its corners. The focus on these surfaces and layers can make the scale of what she is capturing moot, so one is lost in the intersections of the natural and built worlds, rather than the images' ability to document where, exactly, she is.

Dana and Juliane's works are joined by those of Bahar Behbahani, Ben Gest, Charlotte Hasland-Christensen, Glenn Rudolph, Nodeth Vang, Radcliffe Roye and Rob Carter.

Both artists also have editions on 20x200, including two works from Juliane's Korea Diary series: Fishline and Balloons (just 1 print left!). Dana's Untitled (Geese, London) from the series Borderland is also available in three sizes.

Silverstein Photography Annual
10 Curators / 10 Photographers
On View: March 27 - May 8, 2010
Bruce Silverstein Gallery
535 West 24th Street
New York, NY 10011

Happy National Poetry Month collectors! I'm no April fool but I am a fool for poems and in celebration I have a bonus edition from Austin Kleon: The Travelogue. And though Austin's edition exhorts us to "forget about trying to speak", I'm going to do my best to write just why and how all of our editions with him came to be.

Austin and I have known each other on the interwebs for a while now. How we met exactly I can't recall—it was Twitter or Tumblr or Facebook, or maybe some combination thereof. It's easy to see why his work would catch my fancy, considering that I'm a poetry nerd whose affinity for the incorporation of text and typography into artwork is well-evidenced in 20x200's archives. What moved me from interest to admiration was what Austin pulls off with the humblest of media—usually a Sharpie pen and yesterday's news.

His selection-by-omission practice is the semi-illogical next step in a process that I go through constantly, one which I've pursued, involuntarily at times, for as long as I can remember being able to read. Nearly all my reading is a swim against an undercurrent of my unending search for a motto, a rallying cry or a mantra. Whether it's a poignant refrain of a pop song, a quote from a dead person or a few lines swiped from an admired poet, my constant search for a few good words is... constant. But, my ceaseless scanning of a page for a string of resonant words is thoroughly trumped by Austin's talent for stringing them together. He doesn't find poetry, he makes it—and he doesn't just make it, he publishes it. Which is to say that this creative-writing-major-with-a-concentration-in-poetry college dropout makes me both green with envy and glowing with pride.

I met Austin in person in Austin, TX, when I was there for SXSW, and was glad to get to spend time with him as he was on the brink of big things—spending time with artists on the brink of big things is one of the true joys of my job. His book—which you can pre-order on Amazon—was available in the conference's bookstore. We went to dinner on the same evening that we both got to hold copies of it in our hands for the very first time. Austin was frazzled and flustered and flattered by the attention that was beginning to percolate. He was anxious about what was to come, and whether the book would sell, and what comes next when it does or it doesn't.

There were four of us at dinner, each representing a compass point on the map of North America—California, Canada, New York and Texas—sitting at a picnic table on a scrappy patio beneath trees strung with Christmas lights, sipping sweet tea and eating barbecue and talking about poetry. I mean really talking about poetry, because as it turned out, all four of us are pretty big poetry nerds. It struck me then that for all the talk about what was to come, Austin's accomplished some pretty amazing things already and those things deserved a good portion of the credit for convening us there that evening. And being there? That was pretty great.

Dustin Amery Hostetler (UPSO) at work.

In case you missed it, The Strange Attractor ran a great feature a few months ago on Dustin Amery Hostetler (a.k.a. UPSO) and his wife Jemma as part of their "Creative Couples" series. The interview has hilarious bits about everything from working from home with your better half, to speculation about flying cars.

Here's a bit about their workspace:

Can you describe your creative workspace?

D: My half of the room is covered in piles of papers, bills, books and empty coffee cups. Jemma’s half of the room is like a zen garden.

J: We work out of an old house we bought a few years ago, in spare rooms. We started by working in the attic but that got too hot during the summer. So, we’ve been using one of the bedrooms. Sometimes his junky mess starts to creep into my half… and that’s when I move to another room. I’m all about laptops and mobility. He’ll clean things when he gets lonely, so that I return.

You can read the whole interview and see lots of pictures over at TSA. We've only got 50 prints by Dustin left before they're completely sold out forever, so run, don't walk!

Color Study #4
by Dustin Amery Hostetler (UPSO)

Welcome back to the 20x200 Week in Review! Here's our (relatively) short and sweet rundown of what's going on in the 20x200-iverse:

Juliane Eirich and Dana Miller in the Silverstein Photography Annual

Juliane Eirich and Dana Miller are included in the Silverstein Photography Annual at Buce Silverstein Gallery. Guided by curatorial adviser Nathan Lyons, ten curators nominated ten artists who they felt deserved "the opportunity for further exposure within New York's cultural milieu." Congratulations to both of these fine photographers!

Gregory Krum's Perfectly Appointed Home

A peek inside the Brooklyn home of Gregory Krum was recently featured on Sight Unseen, an online magazine founded by two former editors of I.D. A solo show of Krum's photography, ...Practice..., opens May 14th at Jen Bekman Gallery.

UPSO on The Strange Attractor

In case you missed it, The Strange Attractor ran a great feature a few months ago on Dustin Amery Hostetler (a.k.a. UPSO) and his wife Jemma as part of their "Creative Couples" series. The interview has hilarious bits about everything from working from home with your better half, to speculation about flying cars.

Jane Mount on SFGate.com

Jane Mount's Ideal Bookshelves (several of which are available on 20x200) were featured yesterday on SFGate.com! The paintings will be on view next month at The Curiosity Shoppe in San Francisco.

Romp with the Rumpus, Next Tuesday, 4/6

Our fine friends over at The Rumpus, that awfully addictive site that writes about books, comics, music, art, film, politics, sex and so, so much more is teaming up with Flavorpill and Tin House for a A Night Together of readings, music and all kinds of funny stuff next Tuesday, April 6th at The Highline Ballroom.

New Editions

Myriad by Yellena James	Piglet No. 2 by Sharon Montrose	Lamb No. 3 by Sharon Montrose	The Travelogue by Austin Kleon

We started out the week with an intricate edition by Yellena James, followed by a cute overload courtesy of two adorable animals photographed by Sharon Montrose (whose work we first discovered through her submission to Hey, Hot Shot!). On Thursday, we were excited to announce a bonus edition with newspaper blackout poet Austin Kleon.

That's it for this week collectors! See anything we missed? Let us know on Twitter @20x200

Each day since January 1, 2010, artist Lisa Congdon has posted a photograph or drawing of a real or imagined collection. Many feature everyday objects of the home: coasters, brushes, hairpins, spatulas—which she artfully arranges and posts on A Collection a Day, 2010. The May issue of Martha Stewart Living, coming soon to a newsstand near you, highlights Lisa's project in their "Great Finds" feature, noting "Collections have been documented for centuries—but never like this." Lisa makes the old new again, digitally photographing objects from long ago and far away for you to enjoy from the comfort of your office chair.

Lisa Congdon's A Collection A Day on pg 42 of Martha Stewart Living

As I wrote in January in A Collection of Artists as Collectors,

The art of collecting seems an almost intuitive human trait. Whether gathering seashells at the beach, amassing stationery for sending on some future day, acquiring postcards in every city you've ever visited, collecting art (cough cough), or storing an object simply because it's beautiful, the collection re-contextualizes both extraordinary and mundane objects that have been amassed by some trait of sameness.

Lisa's objects go beyond the simple act of amassing, extending the idea of the collecting to a museum-like form of neat and deliberate display. Through her presentation, she offers vignettes of her relationship to the objects, and suggests a curiosity-cabinet-like living environment that I imagine is full of drawers and boxes and cases waiting to be re-discovered.

Vintage orange plastic spoons and spatulas. from Day 82 of Lisa's project

Not merely a gleaner of the gorgeous, Lisa also puts pen to paper to create her own collections—the illustrated ones that are part of her project, and the portfolios of works from which her three 20x200 editions, Lovebirds, Owl No. 1 and Birch Forest No. 7 originate.

Owl No. 1 by Lisa Congdon

Try Letting Go by Sean Greene

West Coast greetings collectors! I'm in Cali for the week with an agenda chock full of bizness, some scouting of new artists to bring your way, and the meeting and greeting of friends old and new. It's warmish and sunny 'round these parts—nothing's better for jet-lag than a bit of piney fresh air.

Last night, post delish dinner of Vietnamese food with Ms. Distin, we were taking in that fresh air and our conversation, naturally, turned to today's newsletter and Try Letting Go by Sean Greene. We were smitten with this painting when he first sent a jpeg but when we finally saw the proof—whoa! I suggest that you click on the "View Large" icon on Sean's edition page to better soak in the details of this print. At first glance, it seems tidy, careful and completely elegant. Yet, upon closer inspection, Sean's work is a little messy—but sophisticated: lines and colors are laid down precisely while bearing the mark of the human who created them.

When I found out that Sean's a skater, it made sense that the physical aspect of the sport would translate into his work. The careful layers of paint in Try Letting Go are akin to the controlled chaos evident in David Corbett's Untitled (blue) and Shill. But the energy that David distills in poured paint is entirely kinetic in Sean's work. It'd be easy to align his paintings and the illegible and invented languages that they reference to the work of Carol Padberg too. In Verlag 3 and Prensa 1, she also works decisively, but instead in tribute to modernist fonts. Sean it turns out, is a little like that guy in the back of the classroom who stuns everyone when he finally speaks up—sure he's been quiet but he's not slacking back there.

April in the city, and a person's thoughts turn to...all the incredible museum and gallery shows that are going up, coming down, and vying for your attention during a season of artful heavy-hitters.

Among these is 20x200 artist Valerie Hegarty, whose show Cosmic Collisions is on view through the rest of this week at the Nicelle Beauchene Gallery.

Installation view of Cosmic Collisions by Valerie Hegarty at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

Known for her installations' penchant for literally re-imagining and/or taking over a gallery space ("kudzulike" according to the NYT), this show may seem a little tame by comparison, a little tidier. For Cosmic Collisions, Hegarty departs from familiar terrain of reinterpreting 19th century classic landscape painting and instead focuses her attention on the titans of Abstract, Conceptual and Minimalist art. From the press release:

For this exhibition, Hegarty expands her dialogue between American master paintings and catalytic events by drawing upon a broad range of influences to include the sublime, quantum physics, alchemy, origami, abstract expressionism and imagery produced from the Hubble telescope. As in works past, Hegarty reconfigures the paradigms of American painting through interventions that appear to be the result of natural events. With works that recall Rothko, LeWitt and Pollock, Cosmic Collisions pushes the parameters of such events, to suggest the effects of the quantum mechanics of space on these iconic works, creating almost petrified relics.

Starry Rothko by Valerie Hegarty

Creating facsimiles of Sol Le Witt's Open Cubes, or a Rothko canvas, or an action-painting by Jackson Pollock, Hegarty has warped, singed, and otherwise treated these pieces as world-weary travelers through the space/time continuum, and lay the results before us. Reviewed this week in both the New Yorker ("It's like an episode of the Twilight Zone as scripted by Fontana, Manzoni and Klein.") and the New York Times ("Some of Ms. Hegarty’s transformations suggest natural disasters; others conjure nuclear explosions"), Hegarty proves herself as an artist willing to take on new risks and challenges and to work beyond a proven and historically successful comfort zone.

In addition to her work at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery, Valerie's work can be seen in a few places in-person and online. First, her work is installed at out of doors on The Highline. Next, we still also have some medium sized prints of her 20x200 edition First Harvest in the Wilderness with Pileated Woodpecker for sale, the proceeds of which benefit the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Valerie Hegarty's Cosmic Collisions
On view through April 11, 2010
Nicelle Beauchene Gallery
21 Orchard Street
New York, NY 10002

Lumber Mill by Bryan Schutmaat

Train Yard by Bryan Schutmaat

Unseasonably warm greetings, collectors! It's Youngna here today to introduce the work of Texas-based photographer Bryan Schutmaat. Bryan's work first caught our eyes when he submitted to Hey, Hot Shot!. Since then, many of us at team JBP have continued to return to his images, drawn to the exquisite lines, light, and imminent narrative born of his landscapes. Lumber Mill and Train Yard both come from the series Heartland, and reference two industries fundamental to the beginnings of America.

Bryan is a photographer who seems both part of the land and endlessly fascinated by it. He discovers new color palettes within the open plains by waiting for the sun to pass its peak and transform vacant landscapes with a painterly lushness that imbues a sky, road, or grassy field with tremendous vigor. He capitalizes on scale, filling the frame with the utter vastness of his surroundings. In what some might see as emptiness, Bryan recognizes a space that defines his relationship to the land.

Associate Director of Jen Bekman Gallery, Jeffrey Teuton adds:

Bryan's images are classic and cinematic without being distancing. I feel drawn in—not as a casual viewer of a passing moment, luckily documented by the photographer—but engaged in a story that is about to unfold. It is impossible to look away, because in my mind it seems that I am gazing at a moment right at the threshold. If I dare turn my head, I may miss what happens.

His images also carry a subtle hint of nostalgia that gives way to a more modern and compelling voice. This combination makes Bryan both an excellent photographer and storyteller—and, reflected in the two images here—results in an incredible life and vibrancy which, in others' hands, could be mundane and quiet.

Train Yard and Lumber Mill are both departure points for objects and people headed elsewhere. They pause, not knowing where they are going next, transformed by forces beyond their own control—off to become part of a larger story yet to be told.

The Web 2.0 Expo is entering its third year of gathering designers, developers, innovators and entrepreneurs under one room for three full days of inspiring talks. On October 18-21st, the New York branch of the conference will gather, and you (yes, you!) too can submit a proposal to speak.

What can you propose to talk about? Almost anything. Share stories about lessons learned using social media, design epiphanies, customer-service experiences that changed how you do business, or visual communication. Tell a tale about what has and hasn't worked for you in a way that'll appeal to developers, designers, marketings and business strategists alike.

Then, take this idea and turn it into a compelling video proposal. You can propose a talk solo or with a partner, and create a 2-3 minute clip about what your session will cover and what your audience can expect to learn. It doesn't have to be feature-film quality and don't worry about winning any editing awards. Once your video is ready, post it on Youtube, Vimeo or another video-hosting site, and send a link to Web 2.0 Expo by April 12th. The advisory board, including Jen, will carefully watch your videos, and notify selected speakers in June.

If you need help getting started, Web 2.0 Expo has made their own video to help you out: Insider Tips for Submitting a Winning Proposal. They also have lots of tips for writing successful proposals online and a list of this year's themes (including startup strategies, social media marketing, cloud computing and design for satisfying user experiences).

Untitled from Off Season Sugar Cane Workers by Youngna Park

You might be most familiar with Youngna Park for her street photography, images of light, and—of course—the Candy Cane Intervention. However, Youngna's work spans the breadth from documentary to commercial to quiet daily observations. I was reminded of this today when I saw that Youngna's series Off Season Sugar Cane Workers is currently featured on GOOD's Picture Show series.

About the series, Youngna writes:

One takeaway was just how relative everyone's situation is. What often attracts image making is tragedy, like we saw with Haiti. I was here to witness these people's normal lives, and the living conditions still seem jarring, so it was certainly an education in relative wealth.

You can see the rest of the series at the GOOD's Picture Show and see more work from Youngna on her website. Of her two 20x200 editions only Winter Flags (East Village, New York) (below) is still available.

Winter Flags (East Village, New York) by Youngna Park

Welcome back to the Week in Review, a (somewhat) short-and-sweet recap of 20x200 news and links!

Guess who's in New York Magazine this week? 20x200's Austin Kleon, whose new book of poems, Newspaper Blackout, makes the mag's Approval Matrix somewhere between Highbrow and Brilliant. Score! Last week we released Austin's fourth edition on 20x200, The Travelogue.

Lisa Congdon's Collection a Day in Martha Stewart Living

"Collections have been documented for centuries—but never like this," writes Martha Stewart Living on Lisa Congdon's Collection a Day project. Through 2010, Lisa will drawing, painting, or a photographing a different collection every single day and uploading it to her blog.

Obsessive Consumption book on the T Magazine Blog + Daily Candy

“Read from beginning to end, 'Obsessive Consumption’ reveals a happy (if somewhat guilty) grasshopper who likes a good bargain as much as she likes a good burrito. Bingaman-Burt engages in the same name-brand culture as the rest of us, but in her life, at least, it’s art.” - Andy Port on Kate Bingaman-Burt’s new book, Obsessive Consumption, in the T Magazine Blog

Daily Candy's online version of The Weekend Guide also suggests you flip through Kate's book, noting, “Because buying it is delightfully meta.”

Valerie Hegarty at Nicelle Beauchene Gallery

Not that we're not excited about the gorgeous weather as of late, but spring turns our minds to the fantastic museum and gallery shows going up, coming down, and vying for our attention in this season of artful heavy-hitters. What we're trying to say is, make sure to enjoy the sunshine, but don't miss Valerie Hegarty's show Cosmic Collisions, currently on view at Nicelle Beauchene through this Sunday only!

Youngna Park on GOOD Magazine's Picture Show

20x200 edition-maker and JBP's own Youngna Park was featured yesterday on GOOD Magazine's Picture Show! Youngna's series, Off Season Sugar Cane Workers, documents the 2 - 3 months of daily life during the rest period between harvests.

• The Web 2.0 Expo is entering its third year of gathering designers, developers, innovators and entrepreneurs under one room for three full days of inspiring talks. On October 18-21st, the New York branch of the conference will gather, and you (yes, you!) too can submit a (video) proposal to speak.
• Sara and Jen took at field trip to Tucker Nichols studio at the Marin Headlands and snapped this tantalizing picture of his space and works in progress.
• Looking for the perfect place to hang your Mike Monteiro? Here you go.
• Noah Kalina created a special series of portraits for this show in LA which, he says, probably won't be shown anywhere else.

New Editions This Week

Try Letting Go by Sean Greene	Lumber Mill by Bryan Schutmaat	Train Yard by Bryan Schutmaat

That's it for this week, collectors! We're off to bask in the sunshine hit those closing gallery shows. See anything we missed? Reply to @20x200 on Twitter.

Nonsensical Infographic No. 3 by Chad Hagen

Nonsensical Infographic No. 4 by Chad Hagen

Greetings from New York collector friends! After a sunshiney week in the Bay Area it sure is good to be back. As much as I love San Francisco, there's no place like home. Creature of habit I am, I headed over to the New York Health and Racquet Club at the crack of dawn, happy that good routines are sticking. I'm energized and ready to introduce today's editions from Chad Hagen: Nonsensical Infographic No. 3 and Nonsensical Infographic No. 4. These new prints make a sweet duo but also pair quite well to make a comely quad with Chad's previous editions: Nonsensical Infographic No. 1 and Nonsensical Infographic No. 2.

Way back when Sara introduced No. 1 and No. 2, we chatted about other infographics we have long loved: those drafted by the venerable Edward Tufte, the transparencies that grace the pages of GOOD and Andrew Kuo's ever-amusing and elegant illustrations for The New York Times. A painting by Andrew was one of the the first pieces of art I ever bought and it charms me to this day. I'd love to bring editions to you fine folks—he's long been on my wishlist.

Not too long ago, Chad contributed to ISO50's round-up of ways to overcome creative block. His words of advice were lined up with those of a few other graphical gurus, including Nicholas Felton whose annual Feltron Report is eagerly awaited (and who also just *might* be cooking up something good for 20x200-land), fellow edition-maker Mike Perry and NYT Design Director, Khoi Vinh. Chad had this thought to share: "In my opinion, there is no better way to trigger your own creativity than to see what great things others have made or are making. Going to museums, galleries, shows, etc..."

Also good for inspiring creativity? Living with art!

Searching for the world's oldest living things can seem like a romantic task pursued by explorers of bygone days—the Marco Polos and Ernest Shackletons of the earth who voyaged from sea to sea and pole to pole—not the passion of a Brooklynite with wanderlust and a penchant for aged specimens. But, that is what lights a fire in the curious mind of Ms. Rachel Sussman, who for five years has been tracking centuries-old trees and organisms around the globe and capturing them with her camera. Getting to the locations is an experience and education in and of itself, and then Rachel takes on the task of conveying these livings things' dignity and complexity while out in the desert, underwater, or in the forest.

Left: la llareta #0308-23b26 (up to 3,000 years old, atacama desert, chile); Right: spruce gran picea #0909-6B37 (9,5000 years old; fulufjället, sweden)

Recently featured on NPR's The Picture Show blog, Sussman speaks of being her first ancient discovery:

"I had gone to Japan with no real agenda — just knowing that I wanted to photograph. And ... people kept telling me, 'You have to go visit this tree that's called Jomon Sugi that's 7,000 years old."

After a two-day hike, Sussman found the tree. When she relayed the story to friends back home she realized that if she combined her interests of photography and art with nature and science it would make a great series.

Sussman finds subjects through both coincidence and deliberate pursuit, contacting researchers studying underwater forms, fungi and rare plants—and in one instance, serendipitously meeting a biologist at a New Year's Eve party who connected her to lichen in Greenland.

How does Rachel afford to trot the globe in search of these rare specimens, you ask? That's where Kickstarter comes in. Rachel has announced a project to continue funding her work and is trying to raise a goal of $10,000 in the next 66 days. If she meets her goal, the funds will be used to help her pursue 10 organisms on her list to find and photograph so the project can be turned into a book. She writes of her mission:

I'm developing this unique index of living organisms with exceptional longevity at a critical juncture in our collective trajectory: how will the natural world fare in the face of climate change? Part art, part science, part philosophy, I hope to tease out themes of longevity, sustainability, the natural sublime and mortality through the work.

Help Rachel get to the Antarctic Peninsula to find 5,000 year-old moss, go backpacking in Tasmania for 10 - 43,000 year-old clonal shurms and visit a 2,300 year-old Banyan Fig tree in Sri Lanka. Because even if none of us can go with her, wouldn't it be nice to live vicariously through Rachel's explorations and hang a photo of a 9,500 year-old Swedish Spruce Gran Picea tree in our living rooms? We think so.

For those of you armchair travelers, you can also follow along with Rachel's project on the OLTW blog.

p.s. There is just one 30"x40" print left of Rachel's 20x200 edition, Towards Christiana. Snap it up before it becomes extinct!

by Alex Brown

Good day collectors! With temps about to hit the 60s and cherry trees in full bloom, the weather in NYC is teasing kids stuck between spring and summer breaks and is making the rest of us feel like skipping to work (instead of say, skipping work) because you know I'm not one to take a day off. Even with spring fever in full effect, not much tops the joy of bringing new art to you all twice a week. It's true: thinking about today's edition put a spring in my step!

Alex Brown's Untitled (Sad Vader) is UBER internet-famous. I'm perpetually fascinated by the way images and information circulate and proliferate—and in this case, were cause for an interesting copyright discussion when two artists made a sculpture based on Alex's image—but those alone are not what triggered my heart's pitter-patter for this image.

Sure a good controversy stirs interest but that Untitled (Sad Vader) has been blogged and reblogged, again and again, is proof positive that the force is always with us! At least, a little. I'm not really one to geek out over Star Wars legos or to quote Obi-Wan Kenobi but every once in awhile, wouldn't it be great to James-Earl-Jones it under that mask? As Alex writes in his statement, Sad Vader reminds him of when he was a kid and denied his very own Darth Vader mask that, yes indeed, makes that creepy underwater sound (or in this case, the over-head, hot-air sound) of Darth's heavy breathing.

We've all been there—seething in a booth, feeling dark and doomy and suffering from life's little injustices: the ability of parents (or peers!) to not submit to Jedi mind tricks, a lack of a lightsaber or just the looooong wait for french fries at a fast food joint. If only I could summon my super-human powers whenever I wanted! How many other movies have inspired their own wikis... er... wookies? Even saber-swinging Obama (action figure, anyone?) and Lady Gaga are fans.

I'll be back tomorrow with a special benefit edition which features a triple threat of goodness: an artist, a project and an organization, each and every one beloved unto me. (And soon, to you too.)

Significant Objects (8"x10") by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Significant Objects (11"x14") by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Significant Objects (16"x20") by Kate Bingaman-Burt

Benefit-edition-bonus Thursday greetings my collector friends! It is with great pleasure that I bring to you today's edition, a convergence of great people and things in support of a kick-a*s non-profit: Girls Write Now. Proceeds from the sales of Significant Objects by Kate Bingaman-Burt will be added to Significant Objects' grand total donation to Girls Write Now.

The why, what, when and how of this edition's coming together is evidence of the universe's mysterious but ultimately good ways. It's a long story, so I'll start with the end: Girls Write Now is dedicated to providing guidance, support, and opportunities for New York City's underserved or at-risk high school girls, enabling them to develop their creative, independent voices, explore careers in professional writing, and learn how to make healthy choices in school, career, and life. Important stuff! And really, it means that when my story here comes to an end, your support—when you pick up one of Kate's prints—marks just the beginning of incredible opportunities for girls across New York City.

An inspiring example of an awesome woman, Kate's ever-industrious and creative—her just-published book is the latest in a long line of accomplishments. Plus, she's continually upending traditional paradigms with her inventive explorations of women's work—craft—and America's pastime—consumerism. All of which is to say: she's an awfully swell role model for girls everywhere, making her a natural choice for this edition.

Also central to Kate's practice is her belief in the importance and story of every little thing, which neatly aligns with the premise of Significant Objects, the inspiration for the prints we're offering you today. As you can see to the left, Kate—abhorring a vacuum as she does—expanded her work to fill the ever-enlarging space afforded as the edition's dimensions increased, resulting in three unique images: the 8"x10" print features six objects, the 11"x14", nine objects, and the 16"x20" features sixteen.

Significant Objects is headed up by Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn. Josh and I worked together ages ago when I was a consultant for Tripod. A brilliant, brainy writer, Josh is coeditor of HiLobrow. Rob was THE first to write about 20x200 on his super-smart blog, Murketing, way back when we were just getting started! S.O. is their "quasi-anthropological experiment analyzing how inanimate objects become significant via narrative." In other words, talented writers concoct stories about found objects, giving them new meaning and significance. Then the objects—which have included a mini jar of mayonnaise, a toy bronco and a wooden apple core, among many other things—are put up for bids on Ebay, so we can all see what they're worth now. Like these prints, proceeds from those sales benefit a just cause.

As Rob and Josh wrote: "Core to the Significant Objects project is a belief in the power and value—measurable in dollars, as we've demonstrated—of the written word. Thus we have dedicated ourselves to supporting organizations that not only recognize, but cultivate, that power and value. We love the fact that Girls Write Now does precisely this, nurturing a new generation of writers whose words might never have been heard without this organization's support. We are proud to help them in their wonderful mission in any way we can."

Because people like my friend Lauren Cerand, who serves on the GWN Board of Directors, are involved, I know the program's up to snuff! Lauren's a force. She is one to teach and lead by example. Speaking up, refusing to take no for an answer and seizing (or creating!) opportunities—these are the things that youngsters today stand to learn from role models like the interconnected crew described here, which gives me quite a bit of faith in a brighter future.

Haruki Murakami running

Haruki Murakami runs a 10K and swims 1500 meters a day when he's in novel-writing mode. Alan Greenspan takes a long, hot soak every morning at 6 a.m. to get the gears turning—those gears that have turned the financial world for the past decade. Franz Kafka took lots of naps. Colette and Simone de Beauvoir surrounded themselves with a coterie of friends (and Colette got blood transfusions on top of that). It would appear that there as many strategies for keeping creativity flowing as there are artists and approaches to art itself.

Earlier this week with the release of Chad Hagen's 20x200 edition, Nonsensical Infographic No. 3 and No. 4, we mentioned briefly about his contribution to a nice piece of writing that's been making its way around the internet on overcoming creative block. Hagen was one of 25 creative professionals queried by Scott Hansen on what to do when you're not doin'.

Hagen's advice was among my favorite. He wrote:

I used to think I would eventually, if I worked hard enough, master art like a math equation and then I could relax and just make great stuff and let everything else follow. That time definitely never came, and I know now I never want it to, because the most important thing that keeps me creative is my wanting to be good. So if I’m ever in a rut, the best things to get me out of them is to put myself in places that engage that desire to be good...In my opinion, there is no better way to trigger your own creativity, than to see what great things others have made or are making. Going to museums, galleries, shows, etc. always inspires my mind in a way that make me want to get back into my own work and make good things.

Other good advice proffered in Hansen's essay: British designer Michael C. Place suggests that you cook something (and even offers a quick and tasty recipe to boot); Brooklyn-based artist Mike Perry tells you to get lost somewhere, literally (he recommends an Amtrak ride to nowhere specific); Justin Krietemeyer from the California think-tank National Forest wisely opines that good old sweat will keep the good ideas coming with the endorphins, writing: "Good ideas are stored in fat so if I burn some off I can free them up and use em" and perhaps my favorite (fantasy for many of us?) advice came from NYC-based graphic designer Nicholas Felton, who suggests filling up one's life with alternating kinds of experiences on odd-numbered and even-numbered years, thus "alternate the tenor of my years, like crop-rotations." In odd-numbered years Felton travels more often and works on personal projects, and in even-numbered years he stays closer to the home fires and concentrates on drumming up business and profit.

Two posters by Mike Perry

For my part, I am horribly susceptible to infinite web distractions, taking too long to finish something due to some imagined need for that thing to be an even more imaginary qualifier of "perfect," and to mentally self-flagellate for only crossing off half of my to-do list on any given day. When I really need to reign myself in and focus, I tend to the Platonic advice of "Know Thyself." I know I work best in the mornings and late evenings, so I make sure to tackle the things that take the most flexible mental energy in those time blocks. When I need to empty my mind so that it can be free to later explore undeterred by all the crap I've filled it up with, I'll make like Alan Greenspan and take a hot soak.

While I don't think I actively do this to get out of a rut, I often find that looking or researching the work of artists I am engaged with will push my mind out of a place it might have never even known it was in, sort of like the blissful feeling of a receding killer headache. My most recent artistic aspirin has come in the form of an early Duane Michals tome, Real Dreams, which was suggested to me through another inspiring source, the blog Little Brown Mushroom. Photographer Charlie B. Ward has been asking other photographers and art world aficionados about the first photobook that they remember affecting them in a powerful way. Recently he asked this of gallerist Bill Hunt, and the Michals book Real Dreams was his answer. My copy arrived last week, and I've been lingering over Michals' thoughts and handwriting with the kind of delicious relish that only comes when I encounter a true sympatico. I'll leave you with some of what's been nourishing me the last little while:

The history of photography has not been written. You will write it. No one has photographed a nude until you have. No one has photographed a sequence of green peppers until you have. Nothing has been done till you do it.

There are no answers anymore.

Get Weston off your back, forget Arbus, Frank, Adams, White, don't look at photographs. Kill the Buddha.

I am my own hero.

-Real Dreams, 1976 by Duane Michals

We invite you in the comments to offer your own favorite tried-and-true rut-busting techniques, or your favorite stories of thinkers and makers that have found ways out of the morass of the mind. Knowledge is power, and sometimes it's a very useful and crowd-sourced power!

Welcome back to the Week in Review, a (somewhat) short-and-sweet recap of 20x200 news and links!

Star Wars Kids Come Out of the Woodwork for Sad Vader

One of this week's definite highlights was witnessing the force—that is, all the strong reactions from our favorite nerds about Alex Brown's (Untitled) Sad Vader.

Getting to the Unstuck

What do you do when you're stuck in a rut? We recently rounded-up responses from Scott Hansen's ISO50 blog and Daily Routines to get a sense of strategies for overcoming creative block. Just reading the post, which includes a great contribution from Chad Hagen, got me excited to get the creative juices flowing.

Rachel Sussman Is Searching for The Oldest Living Things in The World

Rachel Sussman has been photographing the Oldest Living Things in the World, but she needs your support to finish the project. Thanks to the magic of Kickstarter, you can quickly and easily kick a few dollars her way to make sure that this epic project sees completion. There are 64 days remaining to raise just under $8,000. Donations will help cover travel expenses, film, and special gear like Antarctic parkas and scuba rentals!

Obsessively Consuming Ms. Kate Bingaman-Burt

Kate Bingaman-Burt, whose beautiful benefit edition was released just this week to support the non-profit, Girls Write Now, was recently featured in The New York Times, profiled on Fast Company, and interviewed for the Herman Miller Blog. You can read all the buzz about Kate on the Jen Bekman Blog and pick up a copy of Obsessive Consumption directly from Kate's website (along with a free random original drawing)!

Get Stuck Up in Long Island This Sunday

If you happen to be escaping the city in Long Island this weekend, be sure to stop in at Stuck Up, opening this Sunday, April 18th at the Islip Art Museum. The exhibit, curated by Karen Shaw, explores "the inventive ways artists create works from adhesive materials," and Michelle Weinberg will have several pieces on display. In addition, an edition of 50 signed and numbered silkscreens will be for sale on-site, available both unframed and framed. The show remains on view through June 6th, so if you can't make it out this weekend, catch it the next time you're headed out that way.

New Editions

Nonsensical Infographic No. 3 by Chad Hagen	Nonsensical Infographic No. 4 by Chad Hagen
Untitled (Sad Vader) by Alex Brown	Significant Objects by Kate Bingaman-Burt

• Austin Kleon had us laughing when he took our namesake tote and added his own blackorange-out flare for his wife. The new message?: "Live With Art, Not an Artist."
• We spotted Hollis Brown Thornton and his glorious VHS tapes over on Boing Boing.
• Curious what a 20x200 print looks like from package-to-frame? Collector Sarah Hennessey shows us how she unveiled her new print, Myriad by Yellena James.
• Jason Jagel has a new show up at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco featuring work from a collaboration with MF DOOM for the forthcoming reissue of hit album, Operation Doomsday. There's a great video of the install over on YouTube.

That's it for this week, collectors! Spot anything we missed? Let us know on Twitter @20x200.

When I was living in Chicago for grad school, there was a curious local phenomena that occurred every business day at mid-afternoon: the entire north shore of the city would be bathed in the unmistakable sweet scent of chocolate. Many people didn't know where the chocolate smell was coming from, most didn't care, but what everyone did have was a surprisingly variant opinion on what kind of chocolate thing they perceived smelling. "It's brownies," was a popular answer. "Chocolate chip cookies," was another. "Fudge, it's definitely fudge," another would dreamily say, almost leaning into cocoa-scented wafts of air.

This same lack of congenial consensus occurs to me now, as I posit to you, dear reader: When you think of Photography (with a capital "P"), what is it you think of first? Is your answer shaped by your experience as a practicing photographer that still makes their own prints, and sifting through contact sheets and discarded test prints on a constant basis your first thought is of the print itself? Photograph as sheet? Or are you instead a gallerist, an art critic, or simply a lover and follower of the contemporary scene? And is the scene that you're used to seeing one where photographs are shown on a gallery or museum wall? Your chief experience of these artfully made images is a show shaped around an idea, conceit or a big personality—and likely, when you think of photography, you think of these public spaces where you encounter images by being surrounded by them in a room.

Or maybe you're a different sort altogether. Maybe when you think about "Photography" your chief concern is what the artist is relaying to you personally. You are invested in the mano e mano moment. You want to hold photography in your hands, you want to be presented with a thoughtfully sequenced and edited set of ideas and images, you want an experience that is total as it is private. When you see or think photography, your thought is a photo book.

The good thing is the three experience are not mutually exclusive. A person doesn't have to enjoy one of these modes at the expense of the others (nor does one of these methods only inherently contain one static kind of value/experience). But what's true is that you probably think of one of these types first, and that one has more immediate recognition and relevancy for you than the others.

Of the print, the gallery show and the book, it is the latter that is the odd binding force of this trinity. While the print is a idea communicated in singularity, and the exhibition is a culled and ephemeral showing of a continuum of an idea, it is the photo book that can be precedent and antecedent to these. A book can also be a collection of prints or cards, and from what is initially only conceived of as a book, a gallery show can arise. Photobooks, and their future status, has been the subject of much conjecture and debate both online and in-the-flesh. In December, Miki Johnson and Andy Adams helped mediate a crowd-sourced post on the future of photobooks for the Livebooks Resolve blog. Earlier this year, a photobook colloquium (pdf) "Lasting Impressions or Fading Impressions?" was held in Lausanne, to hold roundtables with photographic experts and publishers on three related discussions:

Profusion & Confusion: What is the photography book today?

Menaces & Promises: Where is the photography book going?

Concepts & Objects: A Photobook Laboratory

Steidl exhibit at Musee de L'Elysee, Lausanne by Nick Turpin

Heavy-hitters Gerhard Steidl and Markus Schaden held court on the publishing end of things, along with a retinue of smaller art-house presses, as well as artists, editors and collectors. Nick Turpin's summary of the conversations and concerns are well summarized in this post. Perhaps a culminating sentiment about the future of photobooks can be encapsulated in this observation by Turpin:

Today, Robert Frank wouldn’t wait two years to find a publisher for The Americans. He’d produce 2,000 copies himself and sell it through his website and market it through his blog and Twitter account.

In fact, perhaps looking at Robert Frank would be a good case example for one extreme direction where photobooks are going: at the conference in Lausanne it was revealed that the recent reissuing of Frank's The Americans by Steidl press has sold an unprecedented 80,000 copies since 2008. Turpin added in his summary post, "John Gossage pointed out that 50 years ago The Americans was remaindered in bookstores and you couldn't give it away." At Steidl's list price of $39.95, that amounts to over $3M in profit for the publisher. Steidl's model is to keep everything in-house, both production and distribution (they own their own printing presses), which is a large part of the reason that they have become the most well-known and most utilized art press out there, churning out a staggering four-hundred art titles a year, far beyond what any other competitor can boast.

To take The Americans to another publishing extreme, have a look at what Jeffrey Ladd, author of 5x4 reported last month, that eccentric Japanese publisher Kazuhiko Motomura has released a long-rumored special publication of all of Robert Frank's contacts for The Americans.

81 Contact Sheets, published by Kazuhiko Motomura as seen on Jeffrey Ladd's site, 5x4

Ladd writes about the nearly hedonistic excess that arrives from the publisher:

After getting past the shipping carton which I heard was a solid wooden crate, you discover a large very sturdy black box approximately 20 X 24 inches in size. On the front edge, a label with the edition number lets you know which copy of the 300 you own. Lifting the lid reveals a second box made of light wood - burned into the surface is an enlarged version of Frank's signature. Lifting that lid reveals the interior which is foam lined and cradles a silver folded portfolio upon which is embossed Frank's initials. This is lifted out and when opened, reveals a handmade japanese paper enclosure with a dark silver star at the right edge. Opening that you get to the meat of this endeavor - 81 individual enlarged contacts sheets held in place by a large belly-band.

Sounds great, right? Sign me up, right? Wrong. Ladd burst the book prospector's bubble, and reveals that there's an elite even among the book-buying public:

Now before you get too excited; A) it is very expensive at $1500.00 B) Mr Motomura only sells books to people who have bought in the past or will buy a set of ALL of his previous publications which totals around $7500.00 (including this new Frank). So that leaves me out and I guess a few of you too.

So what's an art-loving bibliophile to do? Or even more to the point, what are you as a photographer to do, if you've got a book to publish and you're not a Robert Frank, with eccentric foreign publishers willing to stake a fortune on an extremely limited edition art runs of sybaritic proportions?

Well we've got several photographers near and dear to us that have come up with their own real-life examples of what they have done, are doing, as they challenge this new publishing paradigm shift. And all of that will be revealed in Part II, coming later this week.

Glo, MSN's site for sophisticated and stylish ladies points to Jeff Lewis'Contact High in their latest Gimme Shelter column. Citing 20x200 as one of their "Top 10 Interior Design Sites To Bookmark," the editors write, "Score some quality, affordable artwork by emerging artists." We hope you will!

The first printed matter is thought to be traced back to the 8th Century, though the date, materials and country of origin are frequently contested. However, the refrain (abuzz the Internet) in recent years has more commonly read, "Is print dead?" as publications close left and right.

While magazines might be moving online and off paper, Jenny Wilhide of the London Evening Standard reports that in the art world, "Works on paper seem to be breeding like rabbits." Prints can bring versions of famous works that are unusually un-framable or unaffordable into wall-friendly and wallet-friendly proportions. And, prints are also a very fine art when in the hands of master printers. Techniques can range from lithography and screen-print to digital printing, and the qualities that emerge from this craft are finally being more widely recognized.

Wilhide attributes the rise in print popularity to the craft, the attainable price, and iconic works like Shepard Fairey's Obama Hope poster creating widespread awareness of the medium. She also gives nod to 20x200, writing, "The word in the US press about 20x200 is: 'Buy fast. When they're gone, they're gone.' 'Tis true: a sold out edition rewards fast-finders, but the good news is: there's lots to choose from.

Happy-Tuesday-before-Earth-Day collectors! In celebration of our lovely planet we have a photography double header lined up for you this week and at least one more surprise lingering on deck for next. Let me just say: there's a LIVING LEGEND lurking in our midst. If your friends love art and you love your friends, do them a favor and make sure they're signed up for this here newsletter. Srsly.

More good advice: sign yerselves up for a free Gilt Groupe membership to get the scoop on an exquisite edition we put together with Andrew Zuckerman—a plumage-perfect complement to Blue-and-yellow Macaw_044. If you don't know Gilt, know this: they offer super-styley designer goods at deep discounts for short periods of time and sometimes the offerings include art. And in this case, the deal is even sweeter as proceeds will benefit The National Audubon Society.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself and today's very important business—introducing our latest edition from Don Hamerman: Sewanee No. 17. It's been two years since we first introduced collectors to Don's beloved series, Found Baseballs. The months between then and now have been dappled with many a good memory, a few bad baseball puns and some deep talks about art. Don was OUR gateway drug into art that references sports—most of us 'round these parts aren't inclined to walk the walk OR talk the talk of athletes. But we enjoy offering editions like Don's because they present a good point of entry for all of you who might not normally think that art's your thing (I know you're out there!) or that art and sport could so peacefully co-exist—making the discovery of these photographs an enlightening experience for all.

The thing about this series is that it's made all of us at Team 20x200 reconsider the way we look at the things around us on a daily basis. It's as if these baseballs, found and photographed by Don, are symbols of spring itself, when everything looks and feels like something new again—however aged and tattered, moldy and mossy it all may really be.

Salmon Hole (Chico, California) by Youngna Park

Hello there collectors! It's Sara today. I've been charged with introducing today's edition, our second photograph this week in celebration of Earth Day: Salmon Hole (Chico, California), by friend and 20x200 colleague, Youngna Park. Jen's in and out of meetings all morning—ever a busy bee—but she had asked awhile back that I make this intro. It's a weighty task, writing about the work of someone you know!

So, while Youngna and I share a little corner at JBP HQ (where, among other things, she's now heading up Hey, Hot Shot!*) and have oft talked about our mutual love for time spent outdoors, the bewildering nature of vast spaces in the West, and the best tacos in Greenpoint, I'm going to do my best to stick to the image at hand (though I can't promise these chats won't also inform the particular way I'm choosing to look at this photograph).

Falling in a very personal space, somewhere between the work of Justine Kurland and Ryan McGinley (Jen and I have debated this particular reference to YP's work often—it's tricky!), Salmon Hole is an image of epic proportions. As in much of Kurland's work, human figures are reduced to finite specs, almost swallowed by the Earth's grand scale, winnowed in a turquoise watering hole that is itself diminished by towering cliffs and trees. And, as in much of McGinley's work, people are frolicking in various states of undress, a sublime set of uninhibited youthful fun—the kind that's conjured in T.C. Boyle's Drop City.

But Youngna has no need for fireworks and fog machines, complicated production schedules or scouting trips. Unlike in Kurland and McGinley's work, there's nothing constructed in this slice of discovered abandon. As a traveler, Youngna is a seer of secrets, the things found above and below our usual line of sight. As a favor to the rest of us, she documents these things and there's usually a story or two to go along with the photograph. Recently, at GOOD, she shared words and pictures about off-season sugar cane workers in Cabarete, Dominican Republic.

We've started Salmon Hole at 11"x14"—8"x10" is just too small to see all that's going on—so you can soak in the details and concoct your own stories about summers past, swimming holes, underwater tunnels and caves, and basking in the sunlight somewhere far, far away.

Before I go, a couple reminders:

Join Gilt Groupe for the first scoop on a gorgeous edition by Andrew Zuckerman this week. Stay tuned for a *super-star* edition, same time, same place, next week! And while I have you signing up for newsletters of all sorts, I'll also recommend the Hey, Hot Shot! newsletter. These days it's chock-full of great photography from contenders and just may be the best place to see who will be featured next on 20x200.

* If you're thinking of entering Hey, Hot Shot!, the sooner you do it, the better. If you complete your entry by tomorrow, April 22, in addition to all the usual excellent opportunities HHS! offers, you'll also be in the running for the first Curator's Choice Award, selected by Darius Himes.

The dictionary defines "craft" as a "skill in doing or making something, as in the arts; proficiency. When I think of craft I think of the hands-on DIY trend that's swept the nation, in the form of knitting, crocheting, weaving, pottery, letterpress, sewing, baking and cooking. I think of people home-brewing beer, young urbanites building gardens on their roofs, the droves heading out to design and skill centers like 3rd Ward in Brooklyn to learn how to screenprint, make jewelry, weld and work with wood, and sites like Etsy exploding with new shops everyday selling the work of the hand-and-homemade.

Common Jive, an exhibition currently on view at the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts (EFA) Project Space, takes a deeper look into craft and its range of approaches. The EFA Project Space is also a multi-disciplinary art venue hosting events, classes, lectures and space for creatives to interact, supporting craft as much as they do community. Is craft-ing, in verb-form, more about the creating itself? Or is the revelry in the finished project? Many would argue that the process is as crucial as what one is crafting—and it is artful dedication to steps along the way that makes something crafted at all.

Color Work Station by Megan Whitmarsh

Megan Whitmarsh's Color Work Station, on view in the exhibition, riffs on her interpretation of a busy, creative studio. EFA writes, "Cheerfully quirky, the work "celebrates the process of making art" while making the often evasive artist's workspace accessible." Furry androgenous creatures move amongst an imagined workspace, in which vibrant paintings, objects and sculptures appear to be in-process. Other pieces in the show are interpretations of traditional forms of crafting—a quilt woven out of found detritus, and embroidered pillows with humorous messages that incorporate modern day social commentary into age old domestic decoration. The show remains on view for just a few more weeks through Saturday, May 15th, so stop on by to see craft, re-examined.

Featuring work by artists: Scott Andresen, Karen Azoulay, David Brooks, Milton Carter, Kate Gilmore, Nate Kassel, Ai Kijima, Shana Moulton, Natsu, Brent Owens, Maria Pineres, Tanea Richardson, Whiting Tennis, Megan Whitmarsh, Vadis Turner and Saya Woolfalk

Common Jive
EFA Project Space
A Program of The Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts
323 W 39th Street, 2nd Floor

Cover of Transfigurations by Michael Lundgren, published by Radius Books

I have been an admirer of Michael Lundgren's work for awhile, long having had his website in my bookmarks. One day, while wandering from gallery to gallery in Chelsea, I found myself inside Clamp Art where I paged through a copy of Lundgren's book Transfigurations. A few minutes later I was racing home with the book in my bag.

In the moment of decision before buying a new book, I sometimes ask myself: will I ever finish this, or, for that matter, return to it again? When I picked up Transfigurations a few months ago, I had no idea just how many times I would return to it. However, I've re-opened the book nearly every time I've passed by my bookshelf, even if just for a second.

Yuha Basin, form Transfigurations, by Michael Lundgren

The book opens with a scintillating introduction to the desert by Rebecca Solnit, who writes:

With time you learn to see what is absent: the spring in the winter, the mountain lion in the devoured stag, the flows of water that carved the dry land, the bygone feet that walked the path into being, the living in the dead, the movement in the stones. Only with time. If you come here seeking something particular you may find only it. Or find nothing. But if you come seeking the desert it will be given to you in time, if you take care not to get so irrevocably lost that you too become bones out here, but lots enough to find what you did not know you were looking for.

Like stepping into a dark theater, it might take a moment for your eyes to adjust before you can view the images of Transfigurations. However, Solnit's essay gives just the right context for really seeing the work. Some images are full of subtle grays, others at first glance, appear underexposed or blank, but keep looking and, as Solnit says, "it will be given to you in time."

Spread from Transfigurations by Michael Lundgren

The series is one that Lundgren worked exclusively on for seven years, and the resulting images are nothing short of transcendent. Through you can view the images online, it becomes clear when leafing through the book, richly printed by publisher Radius Books, that this is how the work is best experienced.

Lundgren writes:

These photographs are a lust for the primitive, for what lies behind personality. They are a search to understand beauty and terror, which are bound to one utter certainty—change. In the desert nothing is static; even rocks move. Through intuition, I hope to photograph the impossible, to fix the fugitive on film.

While the internet has made it easier than ever before to access art, many essential qualities are lost when viewing on the internet. Shortly after purchasing the book, I ordered one of Lundgren's prints then another. I can't recommend Transfigurations highly enough, but also offer a warning that it may result in subsequent impulse art purchases.

As quick sidenote: Radius Books publisher Darius Himes is the first guest curator of our photography competition Hey, Hot Shot!. Darius will be reviewing all entries submitted by 12am EST *tonight* and send his choice a Radius Books gift bag, with three books—including Transfigurations!

Earlier this week I told you about the changes in point-of-view, production models and consumer trends in the world of photo and art books. Citing questions from both the muchly read Livebooks Resolve photo book discussion ("How Should Photobook Creation Evolve in the Next Decade?"; "How Should Photobook Consumption Evolve in the Next Decade?"; "How Should Photobook Funding Evolve in the Next Decade?") and the recent colloquium on the subject in Lausanne, Switzerland, we examined both the alarm of traditional publishing models at changes in consumer trends and funding for production, as well as the liberty and opportunity to be found by other publishers small and large to be explored during this moment of flux.

We left off with the following rhetorical question:

So what's an art-loving bibliophile to do? Or even more to the point, what are you as a photographer to do, if you've got a book to publish and you're not a Robert Frank, with eccentric foreign publishers willing to stake a fortune on an extremely limited edition art runs of sybaritic proportions?

Today we'd like to take a look at what some of our favorite artists have been working on that directly addresses this issue.

Do all photographic books actually have to be books? Bound between two covers? Photographer Shen Wei doesn't believe so: he's released a limited-edition book entitled Almost Naked, and the clamshell book contains an embossed title page, an artist's statement, a certificate of authenticity, 25 individual images and an index page. All images are printed on matte paper, and the title and text pages are on Conqueror paper.

Almost Naked, limited edition artist's book by Shen Wei

The photographs show a wide breadth of the American demographic that can be found in New York City, and the tone of images are startlingly intimate, yet simultaneously reserved. While obviously drawing on the traditions of provocateurs like Nan Goldin, Wei also takes intimacy and nakedness to mean more than just being literally stripped bare: it's also a make-shift altar on a windowsill; the way that two dogs tied to trees might look at you in an alleyway; or a dinner table with a vinyl tablecloth that's set for four with blue plastic disposable plates and cups, plus one very "real" wineglass that's mostly empty.

Stranded Dog, 2005 from Almost Naked by Shen Wei

Shen Wei's Almost Naked is a limited edition of 215, and can be bought online via Paypal right here.

In addition to re-envisioning the concept of "book," another method that artists have been employing is to redefine the traditional path to publication. Chicagrapher Jonathon Gitelson is using the innovative Kickstarter project site to source funding streams for his new publishing venture Scavenger Hunt. The project's concept all stems from a found "to-do" list that Gitelson recovered in the city streets. He then set out to find, or re-interpret where necessary, all of the items on the list and make an art book out of his findings.

inset page from Scavenger Hunt, by Jonathon Gitelson

The books, one-of-a-kind and in a limited-edition of 50, cost Gitleson roughly $250 to produce. His initial Kickstarter goal was to crowd-source fund the publication of five copies of Scavenger Hunt, which are to be presented at Kehrer Art Books of Heidelberg this summer. Being the savvy and likable person that Jonathon is, he has already met his initial Kickstarter goal for the five copies, and now everything else is going towards funding the remaining forty-five copies.

As an incredibly forward-thinking incentive to contribute to his end goal, Gitelson is offering participants a 3-tier prints-for-donations buy-in: For a donation of $25 or more, he is offering an 8"x10" signed print of a page of your choosing from his book. For $50 or more, you can choose a 2-page signed print of any spread from the book. And for the kindest contributors of all who give $450 or more, you get one of the actual limited-edition books.

Scavenger Hunt by Jonathon Gitelson

Among also making video, installation, photographic work and performance art, Gitelson has been creating artist's books for years. Ranging from the obsessively-compulsive autobiographical (I Wave in Front of Every Apartment I've Ever Lived In Except One) to the sweetly whimsical (If I Had a Girlfriend) to the smartly wicked (Dream Job), his books answer, in a beguiling array of permutations, the open-ended question, "I wonder what would happen if..."

Gitelson's books have been purchased by an impressive roster of institutions: Allen Library, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; George Eastman House, Rochester, NY; Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Houston, TX; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Rhode Island School of Design Library, Providence, RI; Victoria & Albert Museum, London, England among many others.

Visit his Kickstarter page to learn more, watch his video or make a donation.

In the realm of Making Your Own Luck, there is always and finally the DIY method: photographer Chad Muthard has a new three-volume artist's book available on his site, the whole series is titled Any Fool Can Take A Picture With a Camera Like That.

inset page from Dialogue with a Self-Portrait, from the series Any Fool... by Chad Muthard

Each of the three books takes a critical look at what Muthard tasks as, "three dilemmas that are inherent in the medium of photography from a contemporary stand point." Attractively priced at $8.00 a piece and again accessibly available through Paypal, supporting artists and their new projects has never been easier. Chad Muthard's books are available for purchase through his website.

Briefly worth mentioning are a few other tomes that some of our most beloved artists currently have a for-sale shingle on:

Austin Kleon (artist, poet, cartoonist) has a new collection of poetry for sale in a volume entitled Newspaper Blackout. You can purchase the book, a very hip t-shirt, or any of our 20x200 editions of his prints from the store on his site.

Artist and recently much-gossiped about William Powhida has a print-on-demand Blurb book of a recent solo show, The Writing is on the Wall. You can preview the entire book and purchase it if you so desire at the blurb bookstore.

Lastly, if you're still in the need of guidance through this whole create-make-publish process, our friend and current 2010 HHS! juror Darius Himes has some pearls of wisdom for you in his forthcoming book (co-authored with artist Mary Virginia Swanson), simply and aptly titled Publish Your Photography Book. From the Princeton Architectural Press release:

Industry insiders Darius D. Himes and Mary Virginia Swanson survey the current landscape of photography book publishing and point out the many avenues to pursue and pitfalls to avoid. This expert guide is organized in six sections covering the rich history of the photo book; an overview of the publishing industry; an intimate look at the process of making a book; a close review of how to market a photo book; a section on case studies, built around discussions and interviews with published photographers; and a final section presenting a wealth of resources and information to aid in the understanding of the publishing world.

Publish Your Photography Book has an expected release date of January 2011 (get started on that New Year's Resolution to make a book early!). Watch Darius Himes' blog for more information.

Flamingo by Colleen Plumb

Welcome back to the Week in Review, a (somewhat) short-and-sweet recap of 20x200 news and links!

20x200 News

• What's happening in the world of photo books? See our two part investigation (Part One, Part Two) into the ch-ch-changes in the world of publishing.


• We posted a review of Michael Lundgren's transcendent book Transfigurations, one of the prizes that a HHS! contenders will win if selected for the Curator's Choice Award by publisher Radius Books' editor Darius Himes.


• Megan Whitmarsh is featured in Common Jive, an exhibition celebrating craft.


• "We're living the golden age of print" says the London Evening Standard with a nod to 20x200.


• 20x200 is featured on Glo as one of the Top 10 Interior Design Sites to Bookmark!


• Hyperallergic and Art Fag City, two of our favorite art blogs who just so happen to be office-mates, are having an informal 6-month launch party for Hyperallergic tonight in Williamsburg. The event is already booked, but you can get on the waitlist here. Rumor has it that Paddy Johnson will be making balloon animals.


• JBP's own Sara Distin is running a 26 mile marathon THIS SUNDAY! Earlier in the week she surpassed her fundraising goal of $5,000, enough to provide five cancer survivors with a week at a First Descents program. As of this writing she is up to $6,332.95, and there's still time to donate to a *great* cause.


• DLK Collection's review of the 2010 Whitney Biennial ranks the work of Nina Berman and Curtis Mann as among the "most compelling and likely to lead somewhere exciting or new."


• Work by Colleen Plumb is on view at the Milawaukee Art Museum


• Remember the gorgeous print by Andrew Zuckerman we released a few weeks ago? Well, two of Andrew's editions are now featured on Gilt Groupe through next Tuesday, with proceeds going to The National Audubon Society. Sign up for a membership to get the scoop.


• In the Bay Area? Well save the date of May 4th, 'cause we're throwing a party! That means you—yes, you!—are invited to come mingle with some of team 20x200, artists and collector at Chronicle books from 6-9 p.m. More details, soon!
  

New Editions

In honor of Earth Day we released these two earth-y editions and vowed, as a team, to be better at turning off the lights when we leave the room.

Sewanee No. 17 by Don Hamerman	Salmon Hole (Chico, California) by Youngna Park

That's it for this week, collectors! See anything we missed? Let us know on Twitter @20x200.

We're heading out west for our annual Collectors Confab and you're invited! Jen and a few members of the 20x200 team are excited to meet you—West Coast collectors—on Tuesday, May 4th from 6 - 9 p.m at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. We'll be serving wine and beer along with a few nibbles, and perhaps have a surprise or two for you too. Many of our Bay Area artists will also be in attendance, so come say hello and have a drink on us!

Space is limited, so make sure you RSVP to rsvp AT 20x200 DOT com.

Who: West Coast Collectors, Artists & Team 20x200
What: Collectors Confab
When: Tuesday, May 4th, from 6-9 p.m.
Where: Chronicle Books | 680 Second Street, San Francisco, CA

When you think of the words "influential," "technology," and "women" together in the same sentence, which faces come to mind? Fast Company lists their votes for the top ladies of the tech world in an article highlighting the movers and shakers of 2010. They point to the executives, CEO's, media minds and entrepreneurs—which is where Jen Bekman joins an esteemed group of savvy women in earning the "Most Influential" title.

Fast Company interviews Jen about 20x200 artists, understanding which work suits our audience's tastes and the changing response of the art world since 20x200 first began. She also talks about why she embraces "non-traditional art," like Jorge Colombo's iSketches, why she'd rather someone hate an edition than not have an opinion about it at all, and how 20x200 is trying to change the entire relationship between art and collectors.

FC: So do you want to raise the quality of the online art-buying experience?

JB: No, the whole experience. We have what I call a benevolent eco-system. The collectors are delighted -- they are getting something that overdelivers on their expectations. To spend $20 and have some of it go directly to the person who made it -- that's hard to do these days, especially at any kind of scale. The artists are making more money than they've ever made as artists, in many cases. And their work is being respected and well represented in the process.

Read the full interview and see the full list of influential women in technology over at Fast Company.

HEAD OVER HEELS by LAWRENCE WEINER

[PLEASE NOTE PURCHASE LIMITS BELOW.]

What I'm really hoping is that today's edition—HEAD OVER HEELS—shows up in bars. You know, places like Fanelli's or the Scratcher or 288, or the spot up the street from your office where you grab a drink after work. Or ideally, somewhere in the West Village close enough to where Lawrence Weiner lives that he might stroll by and see it through the window. It should be in bars. Lots of them. Why? Because that's what Lawrence wants and if I've ever met a man who deserves to get what he wants, he's the one.

Why Lawrence wants this is what makes him kind of magical and amazing. You see, he figures that if it shows up in bars, it's likely to be seen by people who will experience it for what it is (or, rather, what they make of it) instead of being seen as a thing that was made by HIM. (We'll have to allow for a higher likelihood of positive IDs here among the erudite drinkers of the City of New York, but still!) This is what Lawrence wants with all of his work—for people to see it—LOTS of people, and for those people to make it their own.

I often talk about how much I love my job, almost to the extent that it sometimes feels like gloating. But it's hard not to yammer on about it when I've got a gig that involves an afternoon spent in the home and studio of Lawrence Weiner, surrounded by his art, and the art of his friends (think Ruscha, Sol LeWitt) and the people he holds dear—his wife Alice and a staff that seems like family. It's a home possessed with a serenity and peaceful happiness as to feel almost cult-like, except for the hints of playfulness that peek out unexpectedly at every turn. Its bones are drawn from the familiar vocabulary of contemporary architecture—there are industrial materials and clean lines—but they're punctuated by floors and ceilings painted in rich, strong hues. The three hours that Sara, Philae and I spent there were incredible. LW is so articulate and profound, it was tempting to scribble down nearly everything he said. (And this coming from someone who is a terrible notetaker!) But the most memorable moments conveniently connect to what Weiner was thinking when he created HEAD OVER HEELS.

Here's the thing to know about Weiner. He's kind of a socialist, in a way that reminds me of my born-of-Eastern-European-immigrants grandfather. As he says in the video I just linked to, he believes that everyone should have a roof over their heads, food in their stomachs and an education—and that the state should provide it. But here's the thing—he's not a Marxist. He'd like to be, but in his lifetime—in our lifetime—we've witnessed its corruption and failure. And being a bohemian, a 60s conceptualist pioneer, a reader and a thinker makes it hard to cast your lot with God and angels.

Lawrence laid out these bookends before us simply and eloquently, and yes, we were hanging on his every word. He said "Where are we without either? All we want, all anyone wants, is to be a good person. But how?"

Having dispensed with Marx and angels, we're adrift—head over heels—trying to be good, trying to have heart. All anyone wants is to be a good person—but how? I've thought about that a lot since that day, and in thinking about it, have come to understand more what LW means when he says that he wants people to see this image as an icon, independent of him and art and the art world and everything else.

To be a good person is a practice; it requires constant effort and correction. It seems no mistake that there's a heart at the center of the icon Lawrence has created for us. It's something to meditate on and to anchor oneself to, something to go after, if you will and something to share with the world.

PLEASE NOTE THE FOLLOWING PURCHASING LIMITS:

- We're limiting collectors to two 10"x8" prints each, and only one per collector for prints 20"x16" and larger.
- This edition is not eligible for any discount or promotion.
- We reserve the right to refund purchases if we determine that a single collector has acquired multiple prints or used a discount code.

Two cities: one hopelessly romantic, the other hopelessly kitsch. One claims dominion over the water; another over the desert. Both are master examples of the triumph of modern engineering over the natural world and both are utterly artificial in construct.

Alex S. MacLean has been been aerially photographing the cities of Venice, Italy and Las Vegas, Nevada, at the bequest of the Berlin Akademie der Künste. The AdK commissioned MacLean to make these images (which were all taken in the fall of 2009) to form the centerpiece of their current exhibition, The Return of the Landscape, March 12, 2010 through May 30, 2010.

Venice, 2009 by Alex S. MacLean

Las Vegas, 2009 by Alex S. MacLean

From the press release for the show:

The 20th-century city was built in opposition to the landscape. The ecological consequences of this have been climate change, a shortage of water, and the loss of biodiversity. The 21st-century city therefore has to be developed in accordance with the landscape, using creative and sustainable solutions and a new and more holistic approach.

The Akademie der Künste in Berlin is placing these issues at the heart of a large, interdisciplinary exhibition entitled Return of Landscape (Wiederkehr der Landschaft), which opens on March 12 and will be accompanied by numerous events.

Among other topics, the exhibition aims to compare and contrast the world's two most artificial cities: Las Vegas and Venice. Even though their surrounding environment and histories could hardly be more different, both cities are struggling with similar ecological problems, including urban sprawl, air pollution, and water shortage.

Originally trained as an architect, MacLean's preoccupation with landscape is well-informed by an understanding of man's relation and dominion to his environment, and the consequences that such triumphs and hubris have wrought. Photographing from the skies for years, his images depict encroachment and impingement of industrial interests on natural spaces, as well as the the reach of suburban sprawl growing ever more greedy as it eclipses everything around it. The commission from the AdK for MacLean to document both changes and concerns in the cities of Venice and Las Vegas was a perfect pairing of instrument to operation. MacLean's photographs show us scenes strikingly different from our mind's eye recollection of la Serenissima, and what he shows us of Las Vegas contrasts starkly with popularized tourist images of the twinkling city in the desert. Instead of romance, we see a city sinking into the water, often surrounded by industrial machinery that makes it seem as if it is this that drags the Veneto to its watery grave; or instead of the twinkling glitz or surreal silliness that we may have experienced Las Vegas to be, we instead see a sickening sprawl of cookie-cut McMansions redefining what the edges of the American desert west are.

Venice, 2009 by Alex S. MacLean

If you are near Berlin or will be in the coming month, do yourself a favor and trek down to the Akademie der Künste to see MacLean's work in-person. A catalog of the show is also available for viewing from afar.

The Return of the Landscape
On view through May 30, 2010
Tuesday to Sunday 11am-8pm
€6 general / €4 student; free admission for those 18 and under
First Sunday of the month is also free

Hanseatenweg 10
Berlin, Germany
U Hansaplatz, S Bellevue, Bus 106

Greetings, collectors! We're happy to dispatch some good news this gorgeous Thursday evening that we're having a 1-day sale that starts TONIGHT, Thursday, April 29th and ends TOMORROW, Friday, April 30th @ 11:59 PM PST!! Why? 'Cause we've simply got too much going on and we want you to get in on it too! That's just one day to pick up those prints you've been eying 'cause they'll never be a better deal than now.

*Enter the code 20x2much in Google checkout for 20% off your total print order of $50 or more.

A few little details to keep in mind:

- You'll need to spend a minimum of $50 to qualify for the discount.
- This discount cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions.
- Gift certificate purchases are not eligible for the discount.
- A few of our editions, those by Lawrence Weiner, Mike + Doug Starn and William Wegman are not eligible for the discount. If your shopping cart contains prints by any of these artists, the discount code will not be processed.

So, what does this sale really mean?

$50 prints are now $40
$200 prints are now $160
$500 prints are now $400
$1,000 prints are now $800
$2,000 prints are now $1,600
$5,000 prints are now $4,000

Our sale is perfectly timed for some spring re-decorating and don't forget: Mother's Day is right around the corner! Need some help picking out a print? Check out our gift guides, VIP picks, artist guides and staff picks.

Happy collecting!

Welcome back to the Week in Review, a (somewhat) short-and-sweet recap of 20x200 news and links!

A quick announcement before we begin! Get 20% off on almost all editions and purchases $50+ till 11:59 pm PST TONIGHT. Enter 20x2much @ checkout. If you're already a collector, you know the drill, otherwise see here for more details.

20x200 News

• Fast Company has crowned 20x200 founder Jen Bekman as one of 2010's Most Influential Women in Technology. Don't miss Alissa Walker's great interview with Ms. JB on why we're so passionate about art for everyone.
• West Coast: You're Invited! Our annual collectors confab is happening this Tuesday May, 4th at Chronicle Books in San Francisco. We'll have drinks, snacks, and plenty of Bay Area artists in attendance so please RSVP to rsvp at 20x200 DOT com.
• We weigh in on Alex S. MacLean's exhibition of aerial shots of Vegas and Venice, up now in Germany.
• Remember Jorge Colombo's beautiful drawing of NYC's iconic Empire Diner (featured on the cover of The New Yorker)? We heard just this week that the landmark has lost their lease and are set to close. We're glad he captured it before it goes.
• Who's that sitting across from Marina Abramovic at the MoMA? Why, it's 20x200 edition-maker Joe Holmes! (Nope, she didn't make him cry)
• To all who kicked in for Sara's marathon, thank you for helping raise $6,432.95 for First Descents. Sara says that it was the longest 4 hours, 1 min, and 4 seconds of her life...but, she crossed the finish line! A huge congratulations to Ms. Distin on her Herculean race.
• Noah Kalina, Jessica Eaton and fourteen other photographers have works in Cercle Vicieux, opening tonight in Montreal.

This Week's Editions

Blue-fronted Parrot_00032 by Andrew Zuckerman	HEAD OVER HEELS by LAWRENCE WEINER

That's it for this week, collectors! See anything we missed? Let us know on Twitter @20x200.