Books, the idea: “Simulated book subscription service”

Conrad Bakker — mentioned earlier in this series, in this post — tells me (well, me and everyone on his mailing list) about his interesting contribution to Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft. At the Contemporary Art Museum Houston: May 15 – July 25, 2010

Hand+Made: The Performative Impulse in Art and Craft is a dynamic group exhibition that explores the innovative means by which artists continue to expand the traditional boundaries of art and craft.

Others in the show include friend of Murketing Sabrina Gschwandtner, and Unconsumption-featured soundsuit creator Nick Cave, among others.

Bakker says:

My contribution to this exhibition is Untitled Project: Book-of-the-Month-Club — a simulated book subscription service involving hand- carved and painted sculptures based on paperback books from the 1960s and 1970s, whose subjects range from social issues and existential philosophy to DIY crafts and self improvement. This project examines the way books and their networks of distribution produce a specific gathering of persons, things, and ideas.

Untitled Project: Book-of-the-Month-Club brochures/membership forms are available at the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, Lora Reynolds Gallery (Austin, TX) and by email request: bookofthemonthclub@untitledprojects.com (if you would like to receive an actual brochure, please include your mail address)

A PDF of the brochure complete with membership agreement and important details in very small print can be found here.