Page 44 - Studio International - February 1973

a mystery. The visual (as opposed to the colours and textures, imprinted with patterns, Photography
literary) aspects of the piece can be readily variously perforated. In Bok 3a (1961), three
assimilated. The most imposing contrast is the hundred sheets cut from an Icelandic newspaper into art
fluid structure of the cocoa with the formal are bound together : a regimented many-layered
symmetry of the serigraph. Two male figures, collage, nearly devoid of anecdotal content — a
haloed, stand equidistant from the centre of the dada object sans dada sensibility, for this is a Recently at Camden Arts Centre, this exhibition
page, enclosed in boxes. Their colours are the celebration, rather than a negation. 246 Little (which continues the interest in photography
reverse of each other, complementary tones of Clouds (1968) does not work. This photo offset as a 'worthy' medium) tried to review the
red and blue, orange and green. Conflicting reproduction of a hand-written book is relationship of art and photography over fifty
elements — organic and inorganic, movement technically crude and intermittently unreadable, years. Predictably, with more than 35o items
and rest, opposite colours, positive and negative and the visual impact of the page is impeded by from more than too contributors it could not
forms, achieve dynamic equilibrium. whimsical literary sentiment. Literaturwurst hope to be comprehensive and was bound to fall
In general, the most successful works in the (1961-70) is a synthesis of Rot's imagery. A short through not dealing thoroughly with any
show are purely visual in their impact; the least sausage made of cut-up books bound with water, one aspect. It was in three distinct parts :
successful rely on literary and anecdotal devices. lard, gelatine and sausage skin becomes historical, spanning 1905-60 but mostly work of
(This is no universal aesthetic, simply a measure book-as-food-as-art-object. In such a concise the 20S and 3os; 'prints' chiefly based on the
of where Rot's considerable talents lie.) His image the artist opens our eyes to his own way of incorporation of photography into silk-screening
books are continuous with his graphics, and, if viewing the world. (this section contained work up to the present
anything, less 'literary'. He is concerned with The catalogue to the current exhibition, day but had a distinct mid-sixties aesthetic, and
the book as art object, its optical and plastic which reproduces every book and graphic in the was like another historical section); and the bulk
characteristics. Many of his poems consist of show, is itself a segment of the Rot oeuvre. Books of the show, devoted to current 'creative' use of
words or letters repeated rhythmically on the and Graphics (part 1) is volume 20 of his photography by artists.
page — a rhythm of typography, not of sound. Collected Works, some of which are assembled Most of my criticism was on the score of
Some of the books shun typography entirely: but yet unpublished. It is the book form that presentation and selection of recent works :
one explores bound leaves of various shapes, encloses his art in its totality. q heavily biased towards the photo-art object, and
JOHN CAUMAN the incorporation of photography into a
basically painterly concept through photo-
Cocoa 1968 1 Dieter Rot, Books and Graphics (part i), Edition montage, re-painting, etc. Here the work of
Screenprint Hansjorg Mayer, 1971, p.8.
70 x 100 cm 2 Ibid., p.m. Jack Yates and the quiet, refined pieces by

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