On amassing and assembling a publishing practice
ITS (IM)POSSIBLE FORMATION is an exhibition that delves into the publishing practice of Onomatopee, looking both backwards and towards the future. Here, almost all the books Onomatopee has ever published are on display and in conversation with each other, the space, and the reader.
Displayed at the heart of the space is a shelving unit from the warehouse, turned into a dynamic and democratic altar of books. We challenge the more conventional ‘warehouse’ perception by transforming the room into an abundant sanctuary of reading, writing, (re)searching. Within this collage-like set-up, we explore the intricate relationship between object and book, where the books themselves emerge as artistic objects too.
Within the installation you find risographed collages made by Jesse Muller, taken from her personal archive of drawings. By choosing one folder and layering drawing over drawing, she created seven new images and the replica of the folder itself, an intention that points to digging through an archive and giving new context to old papers.
The sub-optimal bookends, keeping the books in place, are made by Natasha Rijkhoff. These spiny and curved sculptural shapes accidentally became bookends, as they were placed next to an ever-expanding personal collection of books which highlighted their functionality.
Hidden within the pages are fifty bookmarks made by me. I employed an erasure poetry writing-method to establish a direct relationship with the books' contents. This method entails deleting parts of text on a page in order to create a new one, meaning that all lines to be read on these bookmarks are derived from the books on display. These texts were subsequently handwritten on silk and laminated, creating a compressed material effect by putting the shiny fabric together with the glossy plastic.
We extend to you an open invitation: choose a book, take a seat, make notes, and gently return it to the center; thereby perpetually reshaping the choreography of our initial arrangement.
