First, what’s done.After publishing a number of inexpensive prints about
text, messages, folds, memory, narrative,
representation, performance, freedom, crisis, time,
and politics, the First Remainder Series project is
now over.
Part of that project’s philosophy is conveyed in its
initial announcement:
“In the spirit of St. Vincent de Paul’s, Goodwill’s,
and Salvation Army’s thrift-store poetics and
aesthetics, poets. painters. composers. critics.
sculptors. slaves. announces its first remainder
series. The basic idea is to use up our remainder of
paper stock for small editions of poetry and art. The
paper stock for our first remainder series is in
various weights and colors though all of it is letter
size (8.5” x 11”, 216mm x 279mm). Printed work will be
issued in numbered editions of 25 or less, 40% of
which goes to the poet or artist. While they last,
these ordinary prints will be available for $6 a copy,
which doesn’t include postage and handling, or $7,
which does, payable to: poets.painters.composers…, /
10254 35th Avenue SW / Seattle, WA 98146 USA. Of
course the artist is free to sign and price his or her
portion differently.”
Another of the project’s reasons for being has been to
catch the differences between print and electronic
media, and a working title for the project could have
been, to paraphrase an important Walter Benjamin
title, “The Work of Reproduction in an Age of
Technological Art.”
Most of the electronic, pdf versions of the First
Remainder Series are extant and available via email.
Some actual, numbered prints are still obtainable from
the artists or from Seattle’s Wessel & Lieberman Books
[www.wlbooks.com] or Form-Space-Light/GALLERY
[ j.parkinson @ fslgallery . com ].
ppccss thanks all the artists in the First Remainder
Series especially:
jim andrews, david baptiste chirot, tom clark, lyn coffin, márton koppány, drew kunz, leannej, jim leftwich, donato mancini, michael mccafferty, ross priddle, bill shively, randy stark, hung q. tu, and margareta waterman
Also, a note of deepest thanks goes to Vancouver’s
innovative, FRONT magazine [www.front.bc.ca] which has
two, full-page reproductions of prints from the First
Remainder Series in its current issue. Announcing
themes and presenting results in beautiful,
provocative ways, FRONT consistently does outstanding
work.
Though the first remainder project ends, two new
things from ppccss begin: Bogus Books and Maladjusted
Prints are the next endeavors.
Like the First Remainder Series, both projects are
intentionally limited. Bogus Books will be published
in numbered editions of 20. The first ten will go to
the poet or artist; the other ten will be available
from ppccss directly. The price will depend on the
length of the book and the labor involved in producing
it. Of course the artist will be free to sign and
price his or her ten books differently. The books will
also be disseminated over the internet via this email
list.
Infant newness is what Bogus Books seeks. Let the
world have its plenitude, its enticements, its
celebrities. We want difference. If you’re a poet or
artist lacking or refusing the ambition to succeed in
the global village according to its cold credentials,
and if the daily pile of books being published and
promoted seems incapable of truth or beauty, then
maybe Bogus Books is right for you.
For BB, ppccss will consider all original proposals
that can be achieved with ordinary resourcefulness.
The Maladjusted Prints Series will do likewise with
original work: electronic distribution and print
editions of no more than 20, half going to the artist,
half to the press. This project will continue the
thrift-store aesthetics of the First Remainder Series
and will also devise, join, and shape prints according
to the artwork. This series will cut, fold, collage,
and scroll as well as print text and art.
