Alchemie 4
Alchemie / book by Kurt Allerslev; poem by Marshall Weber; drawings & calligraphy by Eliana Perez. Marshall and Kurt are both part of the artists' group, Organik, which assumes partial responsibility for this work. All are either affiliates or driving forces of the wonderful Booklyn.
"The fourth in a series of performative object works by Kurt Allerslev using film or video to attempt alchemical transformation through painting and collage ... The first, second and fourth are books [of] treated, printed, scratched, sanded, and painted sheets of film, which are bound in painted glass covers. The second work was produced as a 5-minute video performance piece. Alchemie 4 was constructed and bound coptically by Kurt Allerslev. The film [of which the text block is formed] was soaked for weeks in water and mashed to adhere. As new color and texture emerged the pages were stripped apart. Torn pieces were re-collaged back into the book and each page received a monoprint and final treatments. Eliana Perez and Marshall Weber then designed illustrations, text and calligraphy to integrate an oblique narrative into the book that paralleled Kurt's process of constructing the book in both metaphorical and technical modes. Perez performed all the drawing and calligraphy in ink and gouache"--Bookdealer's description
Not much to add to the above. This small book has quite a presence and will likely become a favorite of all who see it. Don't worry, we're interleaving it with unbuffered tissue. These photographs do not do the book justice. Nothing will, short of seeing/handling it.
