Something concrete

Murray GM January 3, 2019

On a visit to Portland I popped into a great little fashion/design boutique called Johan (as I can never resist anything Scandi sounding). I got chatting with the owner and found out she’d spent time in Malmö and Lund - small world. Then it got even smaller, all (at least a lot of) her books were supplied by The Idea of the Book who I know through the Letterform Archive. Anyway, as traveling I had to limit myself to just one purchase so grabbed; anthology of concretism edited by Eugene Wildman. Mostly because my shelves are severely lacking in the concrete poetry department. Here’s a taste:

So I decided to go some way to rectifying the shortage. The fabulous Red Fox Press (also discovered via Letteform Archive) recently issued a great set of small editions that included this little beauty from Derek Beaulieu. Love his Letraset work and his tendancy to give things away of twitter and IG. Also I particular love the packaging it came in, lovely touch.

A few more pics from Red Fox Press here: http://www.paperposts.me/posts/2017/11/24/letterform-archive-tables-of-pure-delight.

Shortly after I spotted that Derek Beaulieu had a Georges Perec related piece; L’Echec de Perec. Published by the wonderful French small press MA Bibliothèque, so I had to grab that and a few more items.

Thus 2018 bought with it a cascade of coincidences and connections so I thought I’d share them and start the year off on a solid, concrete foundation.

Letterform Archive - an eclectic sample

Murray GM January 25, 2017

One of the things I love most about visiting the Letterform Archive is the impromptu discovery of awesome bits of design. You can book a research session with them and get a focussed deep dive into a particular subject area, but as a volunteer you just turn up and get stuck in. At one of my sessions Rudy VanderLans and Zuzana Licko from Emigré had just sent over a batch of posters and printed paraphernalia. Letterform Archive already has Emigré's archive including the digital development of the type faces, but this was a stack of items that they had been sent (by the looks of it back in the '90s). It was an amazing flashback to my time at art school. Here's a selection from the stack that includes the work of (amongst others) The Designers Republic, Phil Baines and Graphic Thought Facility. I particularly love the poster for The Residents gig in Zurich, not sure of the designer, Homer Flynn maybe?

Although the eclectic nature of the archive is being filtered heavily through the things I love, it's still amazingly diverse. Here's a bunch of shots that include Raymond Queneau's Exercices de Style (see my copy here) and Cent Mille Milliards de Poèmes, dada letter art, type specimens and a few pics from the many, many design journals they have.

And this wonderful type specimen with the annotation in pencil explaining that the ragged top is the result of mice.

If you want to stay up to date with what the have join their 'Just in' mailing list: https://letterformarchive.org/this-just-in

Nate Denver's poems and songs

Murray GM June 23, 2015

Recently I visited McSweeney's in their office on Valencia in San Francisco. They share a space in the building that used to be home to the rather magical little book/art store Little Otsu. They have since moved to Portland, but it reminded me of this lovely little book I purchased there about 6 years ago. It's a book of 50 50 word poems by Nate Denver called Wait You're Not a Centaur. It's full of quirky imagery and thoughts, all accompanied by fun illustrations. What makes this extra special is the accompanying CD of songs. These follow the same fantastical themes as the book and are wonderful.

Three stand out tracks are Snuggle Tummy about a vengeful stuffed toy, 4 Horsemen about Slayer (mp3 here on Nate's site) and The Prince, the Queen and the Corpse about a ballet dancer who does a deal with a demon to get revenge.

Great stuff.

Lots more from Nate Denver here: http://www.natedenver.com/

Exercices de style

Murray GM November 5, 2010

Exercices de Style by Raymond Queneau.

This has to be one of my most treasured books. What makes this so special is again collaboration. This time between the author (Raymond Queneau), the designer (Robert Massin) and the illustrator (Jacques Carelman). This edition published by Gallimard in the late 70's has all the quality and attention to detail that Massin brought the great french publishing house.

The book takes the form of the same simple story firstly told in 99 ways using the original text by Queneau, supplemented and enhanced with typography and design by Massin. Then there are an additional 45 exercises by Carelman in which he explores the same simple story through illustrative styles.

Wonderful stuff.

You can pick up an english translation if you're interested in the literary exercises, but alas none of the typography or illustration is included in this addition:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exercises-Style-Raymond-Queneau/dp/0714542385

There's also a wonderful book on Massin, published by Phaidon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Massin-Laetitia-Wolff/dp/0714848115/

And for some more about Massin, Queneau, Oulipo and finding/collecting these books, check out this post over at Chancepress : http://chancepress.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/critical-massin-and-other-observations-about-book-collecting/

Atlas Press

Murray GM November 4, 2010

Atlas Press are a small(ish) publishing house that specialize in avant garde literature. If it's Oulipian, 'pataphysics, Dada or Expressionist these guys are likely to publish it. I first found out about them when I discovered George Perec and the OuLiPo, and through their books I discovered the wonderful world of "anti tradition". I have a fair few of their books all of which are really inspiring and challenging but The Oulipo Winter Journeys is such a lovely edition I thought I'd post a couple of picks.

Some of the authors they publish include: Georges Perec, Raymond Queneau, Alfred Jarry, André Breton, Harry Matthews, Unica Zürn, as well as the output from the College of 'pataphysics.

Atlas Press (http://www.atlaspress.co.uk), don't be put off by the poor quality site, the books are great.