In Case of Emergency
Atlanta: Nexus Press, 1984. Softcover. Scott McCarney is an artist and educator based in Rochester NY who has made artists books since 1980. VisualBooks is the moniker for his small edition and DIY production projects. His work incorporates frequently overlooked details of day-to-day life that reflect our human condition. He uses photography and the computer to realize Mallarmé’s aphorism, “Everything in the world exists in order to end up as a book,” while employing his hand and wit to accentuate the books inherent materiality.
This inventive work is in a triangular shaped folder with red paper covers and three bold yellow and black striped triangular tabs that hold the folder closed. Inside is the triangular shaped book that unfolds as a pinwheel structure with various ominous images and scary words.Produced at a time of MAD (mutual assured destruction), IN CASE OF EMERGENCY: combines text from a 1954 US government booklet with images drawn from the artist’s youth in duck-and-cover America. A veritable last entertainment for ground zero. From the "Are We Ready Yet?" series of books that addressed the shifting landscape, language, psychology, and politics of national homeland security. The title references a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) publication titled "Are You Ready? A Guide to Citizen Preparedness." This booklet was eerily reminiscent of "What to Do in Case of a Nuclear Disaster," published by the US government in 1954, which inspired IN CASE OF EMTERGENCY:. Am I surprised the tone, manner, and type of information the government is willing to share with the general pop has changed little in fifty years? The book is an offset edition of 500 with a die-cut cover. In very good plus condition. It measures 6 x 6 x 6 inches. Unpaginated [32 pages] PRI/090924. Very Good+.
Item #37452
Price: $60.00