 Annotated Amusement Guide Magazine By Brad Freeman Chicago, Illinois: JAB Books, 2012. Edition of 100. 10 x 11.75"; 68 pages. Photographs, writing, design, digital collage, printing, and binding by the artist. Case bound in quarter cloth with paper covered boards. Bound to lie flat for viewing on a table. Linen tapes dyed a dark blue by the artist to complement the "cinnamon" colored book cloth. Signed and numbered o the inside back cover. Date reflects the actual binding date of that book in the edition. Brad Freeman: "This book is a visual poem about looking and creativity. On the front cover a woman on the cover of a magazine looks out at the viewer from a shop window. On the back cover three women look into a shop window. As a human we are always looking. As an artist I look, then photograph, then print, all the while changing the image of the object looked at into something new within the other pictures in a book. "Production and creativity are closely linked in my work. I intervene in all aspects of production from photography, digital and photo-mechanical prepress, and on the press. I respond to what the process can offer in terms of expressive value. "The hands (and there are many) in the book are a reference to creativity and how we combine looking with use of our hands to create. "It is about danger, beauty, surprise, death, beauty, experimental narrative, the senses (touch - how the paper feels). "It is about photography and printing. The black lines around the photo on the center spread are formed by the frame edge of the negative. In the old days (when I was a young photographer) photographers would print the frame edges to indicate that the actual framing of the picture occurred at the time the photo was taken. This is meant to show that the photograph was creating the photo from the beginning. The black linen thread works well with the frame edges. "There is a documentary aspect to the photos as well but the specific (date, name, place) are omitted and thus the photos become a larger statement about the human experience - ANNOTATED AMUSEMENT GUIDE MAGAZINE (The title is ironic, it is neither annotated or a magazine)."
|