ArchivesSpace at the University of Iowa

A worn binding of Plato's book, "Republic The Statesman" was remade as a container for an assemblage of booklets, scrolls, wooden rods, gauze and ancient printed texts. The lid of the box contains an inset, ornate magnifying glass through which a portion of the interior box can be viewed. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Each page is a molded mask (of the artist?) made of paper with the addition of collage, straw, newspaper clippings, paint and embroidery thread. Each mask fits precisely into the following one, including the one on the cover, creating an exquisite, compact mask book. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Esther K Smith was the art director and Dikko Faust did the letterpress and typography for this bookwork by Happersett. The colophon states that "This series of mathematical drawings is based on growth and decay patterns of twigs and the Fibonacci sequence," The books are entitled, "Twig," "Leaf," "Conch," "Bloeman" and "Sprout." Each page of the books is made with additional calligraphic strokes using a progressive Fibonacci sequence page by page to connote the natural history of growth of the plants mentioned in the titles.. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Each except tor the Joker is collaged with images of coffins draped with the America flag containing dead American soldiers from the Iraq war. The Joker card is collaged with a portrait of George Bush. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The four books making up this exhibition catalog, which in itself can be classified as an artist book, comprise the topics, Sculpture, Artist and Process, Related Objects, and Bookworks. The latter includes Marvin Sackner's critical essay, "Who Says Thirteen Is Unlucky?" The theme of several of the pieces in the exhibition is Satin's adaptation of John Cage, Jasper Johns and Merce Cunningham's collaborative work, "Dancers on a Plane." -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The cast paper case is a death mask of a woman. Each drawing is a rubberstamped portrait of a woman's facial features dealing with her response to cosmetics. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The book is cut horizontally through the pages and slightly rotated. The fore-edge and cardboard base are painted green.Internet: Sarah Firmin (Dorothy Carr) (1933-) is a versatile artist, designer and teacher, gaining her painting diploma at St Martin's School of Art. Working at the London College of Printing, (together with Francis Carr, whom she married) Firmin helped pioneer the use of screenprinting as a fine art medium in the late 1940s. They have been credited with producing some of the first screenprints to be made in this country, and for introducing the medium to a number of artists including Eduardo Paolozzi. Firmin took part in numerous group shows and her solo exhibitions include the ICA, 1970; Gardner Art Centre, Sussex University, 1982; and Barbican Centre, 1991. The British Museum and Victoria & Albert Museum hold examples of her work. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The text appears to be an autobiographical account of the artist's youth. All leather work, including tanning, was done by the artist. Aminah Robinson (1940-2015) has also signed some of the books in this production with her given name, Brenda Lynn Robinson. Robinson, who received a MacArthur prize, had a major retrospective exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum 2006. This piece was in the exhibition. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

Book object which relates to Alchemy can be made into a number of different shapes; current shape is a pyramid. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The spine of the book in this composition, which has been altered to the appearance of a Guillotine, is entitled "Creative Aggression." This work was exhibited at the Agnes Scott College Gallery, Atlanta, January 2001. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The artist describes this book as follows. "The book consists of fifty-two pages, each with one word repeated and overlaid across the page. A symbol that represents a way of understating each word is cut out with colored papers laid under the cut-outs. Half of the pages contain a phrase related to both the word and symbol printed in a light grey. Cloth covered stiff leaf binding, laser printed text, cut pages, Japanese dyed paper." The book opens to a circular form. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The paper tape is hand-printed with the phrase "From Dust to Dust." A small paper with an inscription is tied to a human rib bone found by Barron in Turkey. The painted and folded pamphlet is collaged with the saying "The Truth is in the Details" and has the artist's name painted in Hebrew along with two skeletons. A torn "fragile" label is also included in the flip-top box.*Web 1998: [Email]dbarron501@aol.com The "bone" is a human rib-bone, oh pulmonary specialist--and one of adam's, most likely. "love, adarn" should be "love, adam". -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.

The artist produced this book from a diary she kept about dreams, recollections, and fears on relocating to Detroit in 1979. Facing pages, one of poems and the other of photocollages depict such experiences. The photographs were reprinted from "Portrait of an Artist and Her Mother."The experiences described among others include "kainophobia": fear of change, "eremiphobia": fear of solitude. Grant has produced an outstanding, powerful presentation. -- Source of annotation: Marvin or Ruth Sackner.