13 Tattoos
Bennington, VT: The Bird Press, 2011. Since 1997, The Bird Press has been an artist-run publishing project that has focused on hand printed artists’ books. All projects utilize some inherent aspect of the book and often take the form of open-ended collaborations with writers. Each project is a response to the last, both in form and content, in order for the work to continually evolve. Poetry, broadly defined, is a major inspiration for most of the work. Editions between 15-40 utilize various print media including: flatbed offset lithography, stone lithography, etching, letterpress, wood blocks, and digital pigment printing. Book artist Thorsten Dennerline creates paintings, drawings, and prints in addition to artists’ books. He has exhibited work across the U.S. as well as in Chile and Denmark. His work is represented in numerous collections including Yale University Library, the Library of Congress, UCLA, Stanford University, and the Kunstindustri Musset (Denmark). Number 23 of 25 copies. Signed and numbered by the book artist. According to the artist: “Some time ago I suddenly got the urge to make a book about tattoos. I decided to think about tattoos not just as pictures or designs, but to consider them more broadly (scars, living drawing marks, body adornments, rites of passage, magic to improve the body’s function, ways to relieve or relive pain, signs of bravery, remembrances, cultural signifiers, or tribal/ group markings). I also thought of the idea of drawing on skin and marking its surface as a way to be aware of it as a three-dimensional picture plane (with psychological implications). I have to admit that the association with crime and other ‘bad’ things was enticing to me as well. This book of tattoo proposals is simply a non-linear document of my own thinking about these ideas.” Japanese style stab binding in black cloth wrappers with red print to front cover. The illustrations are printed from woodblocks and the text is letterpress printed from polymer plates on handmade Richard de Bas paper. Housed in a black and white printed paper folding case. Oblong, measuring: 15.25 x 5 inches. In fine condition. ARTB/032417. Fine. More