Announcing the Specific Object 2010 Publication of the Year Award Given to Josh Smith and Todd Amicon for A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST : Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection
Specific Object is pleased to announce that our judges have named
A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST : Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection, by Josh Smith and Todd Amicon, the Specific Object 2010 Publication of the Year.
A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST : Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection is an artists' book / exhibition catalogue edited and designed by Smith and Amicon, and published following a show held May 7 - December 31, 2009 at the Deste Foundation, Athens, Greece.
The publication extended and expanded the exhibition by introducing a new interpretation of the collection in book form – another guest, another ghost.
"Borrowing its title from one of Marcel Duchamp’s aphorisms, A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST is constructed as a series of solo exhibitions, many of which have been conceived and installed by the participating artists themselves. A comprehensive presentation of some of the artists that Dakis Jouannou has been collecting in depth over the past few years, A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST showcases ambitious works, signature pieces, and new productions by: Pawel Althamer, Maurizio Cattelan, Paul Chan, Nathalie Djurberg, Marcel Duchamp, Urs Fischer, Robert Gober, Jeff Koons, Paul McCarthy, Seth Price, Gregor Schneider, Kiki Smith, Kara Walker, Andro Wekua, and Franz West. In a series of symbiotic encounters and parasitic relationships, the solo presentations are often interrupted by incongruous presences or perturbed by unusual juxtapositions: drawings by Kara Walker surround a tomb by Urs Fischer; Maurizio Cattelan’s homeless man kneels down in front of Kiki Smith’s
Bat Woman; Robert Gober’s haunted rooms incorporate Gregor Schneider’s architectural fragments; Seth Price’s vacuum figures face off a work by Jeff Koons. Each artwork turns into the ghostly reflection of its neighbor, making it impossible to distinguish hosts from guests, friendly creatures from menacing shadows. The exhibition is organized by the Deste Foundation with Massimiliano Gioni as curatorial advisor." -- from book's forward.
Specific Object's judges credited both the book's design, each copy having an unique cover, and the fact that the entire edition of 3000 of the book constitutes a single object and that none of the copies of the publication were offered for sale -- that is the entire run of 3000 constitute a single hermetic object not intended to be deconstructed.
A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST : Works from the Dakis Joannou Collection was printed by Linco Printing, Long Island City, New York and produced by
38th Street Publishers for Dakis Joannou.
In addition to
A GUEST + A HOST = A GHOST, the judges also wish to
acknowledge three additional outstanding publications for 2010 from the
over 400 submitted titles:
Lynda Benglis, an exhibition catalogue with contributions by Franck Gautherot, Caroline Hancock, Seungduk Kim, Dave Hickey, Cindy Sherman, Robert Pincus-Witten, Richard Meyer, Annette Messager, Elisabeth Lebovici, Judith Tannenbaum, Laura Hoptman, Richard Tuttle, Carl Ostendarp, Marianne Kelly, Ron Gorchov, Keith Sonnier, John Baldessari, and Diana Franssen, published by Les Presses du Réel.
A Selection of Snapshots Taken by Felix Gonzalez-Torres, edited by Alejandro Cesarco, published by A.R.T. Press.
ISBN 978-1-90711-8-99-9, by Fiona Banner, published by The Vanity Press.
About the Specific Object Publication of the Year Award
Since 2004 Specific Object has selected a Specific Object Publication
of the Year. The winner of the 2004 Specific Object Publication of the
Year Award was Jonathan Monk for his book
Cover Version, published by
Book Works U.K.; the winner for 2005 was Philippe Parreno's
Fade to Black, published by mfc-Michèle Didier; 2006's award was presented to
0 TO 9 : Limited Facsimile Edition by Vito Acconci & Bernadette Mayer
as part of the Ugly Duckling Presse / Lost Literature Series; 2007's
award was presented to
Esopus magazine; and the 2008 award winner was
The Mug by Sarah Lucas and Olivier Garbay, published by Other
Criteria. The 2009 winner was
Orchard Spreadsheet by R.H.Quaytman, published by MER. Paper Kunsthalle.
Winners of the award receive a cash prize and the title of Publication
of the Year. Rules for consideration for the Specific Object 2011
Publication of the Year award can be found at:
www.specificobject.com/projects/Publication_Call
About Specific Object
Specific Object is a gallery, bookstore and website based in New York
City.
Specifically, Specific Object is an attempt to isolate distinct works
of value - historically, monetarily and / or personally valuable - and
show them in an isolated context without the artifice of visual
confusion or clutter in hopes of allowing these works, or objects,
their own place, space and time. The materials shown range from
artists' publications, ephemera, prints, multiples and other editions
to literature, music / audio works and unique artworks of the
contemporary world.
From 1998 through 2004 Platzker was the Executive Director of the
non-profit institution Printed Matter, Inc. He is also the co-author,
and co-curator - with Elizabeth Wyckoff - of
Hard Pressed: 600 Years
of Prints and Process (International Print Center New York & Hudson
Hills Press, 2000); and - with Richard H. Asxom - the book and
exhibition entitled
Printed Stuff: Prints, Posters, and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg: A Catalogue Raisonné 1958-1996 (Madison Art Center & Hudson Hills Press, 1997), which was awarded the George Wittenborn
Award for Best Art Publication of 1997 by the Art Libraries Society of
North America. Platzker has also curated exhibitions of the works of
John Baldessari, Marcel Duchamp, Donald Judd, Bruce Nauman, Oldenburg,
Dieter Roth, and Edward Ruscha in addition to commissioning or curating
exhibitions at Printed Matter of Angelblood, Larry Clark, Erin
Cosgrove, Meg Cranston, General Idea, Jenny Holzer, Reverend Jen, Allan
Kaprow, Yoko Ono, Ryan McGinness, Sonic Youth, Tom Sachs, David
Tremlett, Richard Tuttle and the Guerrilla Girls.
In November 2004 Specific Object acquired the inventory of Bound &
Unbound from Barbara Moore.
Specific Object is located at 601 West 26th Street / Floor 2M / Room
M285, New York, NY 10001. Telephone (212) 242-6253.
For more information regarding Specific Object please visit its
website: www.specificobject.com or email david@specificobject.com
This press release is archived at:
www.specificobject.com/projects/2010_Award
