Page 18 - Studio International - March 1968

Non-games diversions which must be dismantled and has an extraordinary mysterious colour;
then carefully re-assembled. All these are another is a volume by Wolfgang Schmidt
utilitarian in so far as one can spend time entitled O.P. The book doesn't exist—it is
and achieve some satisfaction in putting what it says it is, out of print.
the elements together to make a whole, or One of the more reserved and even more
play a game of rummy with specially puzzling efforts in this direction is a book by
designed cards. Nor am I referring to books Herman de Vries published by Edition
made by artists in de luxe editions of which Hansjörg Mayer in 1967. This small 250-
every page is an original print, with the
size of type face and price of folio setting
them apart from other books; nor those
books in which painters practise concrete
poetry and poets try to make their texts
visual; nor, finally, those where pages are
Jasia Reichardt cut up and a variety of heads, bodies and
legs can be assembled at will to form some
hilarious effigy.
The esoteric books and games we are in-
'Computers', said Jack Heller, director of volved with here are those which one
New York University's Institute for Com- cannot do anything with. The books are
puter Science, 'will produce new Renais- books by virtue of having their pages bound
sance people. Ever since the Industrial Age together; the games are games because
began, we have been fragmenting our this is what they are called by their makers.
knowledge into specialized fields. Once we Among books which defy any process of
have worked computers into all fields of reading or even sequential looking-through
humanities and sciences people will have are some of the books by Diter Rot. One, for
an immense new variety of knowledge and instance, is a bound volume of rejected
this will lead to new correlations and new printers' off-prints and proofs; another con-
concepts.' Heller was referring to the sists entirely of black and white cut-up
Museum Computer Network which, under pages.
the direction of Everett Ellin, will eventually In his series called Quadrat-prints, Peter
correlate data about art objects in the Brattinga published one of Diter Rot's
various museum collections throughout the books. It consists of 60 loose-leaf pages,
States. The information explosion about each of which is a blow-up of a small sec-
which so much has been written, and which tion of the Daily Mirror. Diter Rot himself
Above
has been welcomed by researchers and wrote about it as follows: 'They are part of a Endpaper from Herman de Vries' Wit (Weiss);
others involved in rationalizing and analys- group of books I made in the year 1962 out
ing objects and events, has had one notable, of a bunch of DAILY MIRRORS— Facing page
if small, repercussion which one could only '. . . INSTEAD OF SHOWING QUALITY Two cards from a set of 52 by
describe as rather sad. The decline of (surprising quality) George Brecht, published by 'Fluxus'.
knowledge as a privilege, and as something WESHOW QUANTITY (surprising quantity).
rare and special, has led a number of I got this idea (Quantity instead of Quality) page volume is entitled Wit (followed by the
artists, writers and other creative people to in this way: German translation Weiss). The pages are
seek an esoteric area for their activities, 'QUALITY' in BUSINESS (F.i. advertising) white and entirely empty. The einleitung
which would of necessity be so personal and is just a subtle way of being Quantity- (introduction) is a blank page signed by
incomprehensible that the information minded: J.C. van Schagen, and the only text is pro-
about them would never reach computer Quality in advertising wants expansion and vided by the publisher who carefully guards
storage data. Their discoveries would (in the end) the copyright by stressing both in German
never become a common currency, if only power = Quantity. and in English that 'no part of this book may
because the key to their understanding So, let us produce Quantities for once!' be reproduced in any form by print, photo-
would not be available. This sort of pre- The Italian artist Bruno Munari also col- print, microfilm or any other means without
occupation does not necessarily represent laborated on a Quadrat-print. This one written permission from the publisher'.
a conscious stance on the part of the consists of white and red pages of high The edition is 500.
creators; it is simply remarkable because it quality paper, which are of different sizes, What is interesting here is that the idea is
is an accomplished fact of which those on some of them having been cut and others enough. It isn't necessary to see the 250
the receiving end are becoming increasing- folded. 'But what are these "unreadable" blank pages once you know that there are
ly and frustratingly aware. books?'—says the introduction in eight 250 blank pages. There is no extra informa-
It is in this context that I want to mention a languages—'They are books without words, tion which the object itself conveys over and
number of games and books—made, con- books with pages cut in different manner, above the idea. Once you know that there
trived or designed in the past few years— with pages of coloured paper. A book like are a number of possibilities to be attained
which belong to this esoteric category. this is folded in this wrapper—by turning by combining shapes of red and white
I am not concerned here with the various over the pages you can compose and de- paper in the form of pages, the first com-
objects which have some connexion with compose many geometric patterns and, if bination gives a fairly good idea as to the
art and are extremely attractive, e.g. you like you can put some of them under scope and limitations of the object. It is
puzzles made up of Jackson Pollock paint- glass and change them later....' simply not necessary to look right through
ings, chess pieces by Man Ray, playing Among other unreadable books is the one the book. Somehow the books don't com-
cards by Sonia Delaunay, or various puz- by Manzoni which consists of layers of municate enough, either as part of their
zles, blocks and other three-dimensional thick film material, which in such density esotericism because the message is so
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