In Impermanence subtile/Subtle Impermanence, Sharoff’s bilingual perception of the world displays itself as more parallel, simultaneous and integrated - more subtle - than in La Poésie de l’univers/Poetry of the Universe. Acquired from the artist, 5 February 2019. Portfolio box: H212 x W340 x D24 mm Folios: H200 x W330 mm, closed variable width open, maximum W780 mm. Portfolio box with four hinged flaps five gatherings of folios bearing seven prints, collages, photos and cut paper. Impermanence subtile/Subtle Impermanence (2013) By extension, is the relationship of language-image-thought to reality (whether metaphysical, geometrical or chemical) similarly fraught? Despite the title pages’ implication, the bilingual expressions do not exist simultaneously in parallel in any one of the single sheet books. Why the bilingualism at all? The breaking up the expressions across the folds and cuts, the interspersing of images among the phrases, and the summary panels (two in English, one in French) suggest a halting, fragmented relation of each language to the other. The only variation among the three volumes is that in Aphorism 1 and Aphorism 2, the complete French expression appears in a single panel, whereas in Aphorism 3, the English expression takes up that position.
From the start, the French title page backed by an English title page on translucent paper suggests some sort of centrality for this bilingual feature.
In their variety of relationship to the structure and text, the three sets of images feel a bit secondary. And in Aphorism 3, the two images of leaves overlapping human creations - buildings and litter - are bracketed by a central image of nothing but litter and a lower right-hand image of nature and the human-made landing atop a protruding pair of legs and feet like those of the Wicked Witch under the house in the Land of Oz. In Aphorism 2, the images of transportation - train, car, plane, feet - follow from the abstract image of parallel lines. In Aphorism 1, the whole tree occupies the “concluding” position of the lower right-hand corner, making a whole that is greater than the sum of the parts depicted in the other prints. While the sets of four prints occupy the same position in each of the three single sheets, they “illustrate” their texts in different ways. Although the fold and form of each book is the same, the effect differs in each because of the placement of text and image. The result is three works of book art teasing the reader/viewer into playing with the artwork or solving the puzzle of reading/viewing it - and appreciating how the text from Aristotle, Euclid or Lavoisier fuses with the fold, form, typography and prints in each book. Photos: Books On Books Collection.Īccording to Shirley Sharoff (Books On Books interview, 5 February 2019), the fold and form of these three books were inspired by Katsumi Komagata’s work, and “Making each one was like a different game I was playing or puzzle I was solving”. H215 x W120 mm. Acquired from the artist, 5 February 2019. Typography by Vincent Auger on Rives 250 GSM. The paper is cut along some of the folds so that folding and unfolding reveals different combinations of the text and images. Three small volumes with aphorisms by Aristotle, Euclid, and Antoine Lavoisier (one per volume, respectively, in both English and French) each printed letterpress in various fonts and typographical arrangements along with four intaglio prints on one sheet of paper. La Poésie de l’univers/Poetry of the Universe (2012)
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