PRAELUDERE (ballades from the 20th century)

Artist book

Edition of 20, numbered – lithographic / inkjet print – £50
Edition of 90 – digital print – £30

8 pages, soft cover, hand stitched, Munken 160 grs, cover Canson mi-teintes 160 grs, size A4

 

Four ballades from the 20th century, to be read, sang, walked or performed, alone or with others, inside or outside, sitting, standing or walking, with or without instrument.

A set of four text score at the source of a body of work (performances, videos, prints, artist book) exploring the notion of the ballad as being somewhere in between a walk and a song.

Once brought into the landscape (the words on) the page soak in what there is to see / hear / feel. It is in that process of mise-en-abime of the text with its surroundings that one may encounter the unexpected and the extraordinary (anywhere and everywhere). Each PRAELUDERE ballad takes between 25 and 45 mins, depending on mood and circumstances.

PRAELUDERE is on my table, and open, accompanied me into the new year. I like to read these pages, to think about, scores and poems. And to think, that what looks more like a score is a poem and vice versa. (Jürg Frey 2014)

I have used this score in many places, to soak in and render on the page what there is to see / hear / feel. I haver also sometimes performed it alone and with others.

A commission for the CAB collection and ‘The Book Artist as Explorer’ exhibition curated by David Faithfull at Impact 8, DJCAD, Dundee.

Acquired by the Saison Poetry library, centre des livres d’artistes, Chelsea College of Arts and bookRoom collections.