Back those bulletins up: Joan Flasch Artists Books Collection gets Dutchy

by Ian Morrison

The Art & Project Gallery began in Amsterdam in 1968 as a collaboration between Adriaan van Ravesteijn and Geert van Beijeren. Known for their unique pamphlets, the two published 156 separate publications over the course of 21 years. Conceived not only as invitations, but also as unique works of art, these artists were interested in being able to easily distribute works of art outside their gallery. They wanted the printed material, which was traditionally considered secondary, to serve as primary sources. Art & Project's bulletins were more closely related to periodicals than books, and although its purpose was to announce exhibitions, the bulletins were often better received than the show.

While the formats of the bulletins rarely changed, Van Ravensteijn and van Beijeren gave artists free reign to design their own layouts within them. Each cover page was minimally designed with the name of the artist, a gallery logo, and the dates of the event. The content of the three-page designs were left entirely to the discretion of the artist. Bulletins were printed in black and white or color offset, and folded in half on the vertical axis to divide it into four parts. 800 editions were printed, of which about half were mailed out, and the rest were available at the gallery, though not all of the bulletins were accompanied by an exhibition.

Some of the bulletins are exclusively text, as if the artist had only used his typewriter. In bulletin #59, artist Ian Wilson announces a dialogue. Printed in the inside of the bulletin it states, "Can something be 'Made' Clear? A discussion to be held at the John Weber Gallery, 420 West Broadway, N.Y. on Thursday, 25th May, 1972 at 6:00 p.m." Allen Ruppersberg's bulletin entitled "thank you, mr duchamp," has written on the left side, "would you close the door please," and on the right, "thank you."

Many bulletins showcase photographic documentation of artists' work. Many of Richard Long's earthworks, as well as Hamish Fulton's walks in the wilderness, are documented in various bulletins as large photographs. In one bulletin, an announcement for Dutch-born, L.A.-based conceptual artist Bas Jan Ader's pending performance piece, "In Search of the Miraculous," was placed. The performance was to be executed in three parts: It began in 1975 as an exhibition at the Claire Copley Gallery in Los Angeles. Then Ader sailed west from Cape Cod, Massachusetts toward Falmouth,   Cornwall, UK. The final segment of the performance was supposed to end with an exhibition at the Groninger Museum in Holland, but Ader never showed up. His empty boat, the Ocean Wave, was found off the coast of Ireland.

The acquisition of the Art & Project bulletins couldn't be timelier. As the School of the Art Institute of Chicago curriculum continues to develop and change with the role and form of exhibitions, this artwork is a boon for research. In recent years, Chicago has experienced a flourishing of small artist-run spaces that evolved from academic experiences at SAIC. Art & Project provides a compelling historical model for how these fledgling spaces can take advantage of this strategy for integrating the means of publicity into the art itself. Gallery spaces do not need to live off openings and one-time viewings alone. It's a rare event--but a valuable one--when a gallery announces an artist's work, even though that work never relied on the gallery setting to be represented in the first place. It all goes to show that you don't need Gagosian Gallery-style budgets and spaces to make good work. In fact, modest means are often more effective.

http://www.artic.edu/saic/art/flasch/

FEBRUARY 2006