The New York Art Book Fair opened yesterday to previews, and it'll be going till this Sunday. It's located at
Moma PS1. I came across the fair by chance--
Dzama's instagram said there would be a dance performance at 7pm yesterday, so I decided to check it out, and stumbled across this enormous expo of books, prints, zines, posters, cards, tote bags, t-shirts, stickers, pins, and random souvenirs (car air fresheners...ashtrays...lumps of coal packaged like candy), at all price ranges, made available to the public by galleries, museums, magazines and random zine-writing punks from the entire world.
Guys. GUYS! It was equal parts an exhibit (so, you know, the inspiring thrill of seeing art), a party (especially last night--the outfits were insane), a shopping spree (and you know how I feel about that) and a scavenger hunt (with things for sale ranging from a dollar to fifty thousand dollars... or more... I knew I was going to find some amazing shit if I looked hard). I cannot recommend this fair enough! And then the PS1 building, an old school with its original staircases and bathrooms, is worth a trip all for itself.
I spent three hours there last night, and then I was back again as soon as they opened today.
Here is what I scored...and some favorite things I saw.
maybe my favorite thing from the whole fair: risograph printed booklet about the birds of argentina, from
humo. they had so many beautiful prints and pamphlets about nature.
a voyage through the trees by emily rand at
hato press.
drizzy inflammatory essays tote bag from
art baby girl (the coolest!!!).
Boxing lapel pin from the zine tent...
All this stuff was far too expensive. And I could have spent SO MUCH MORE. Instead, here are some photos of other favorite things.
in the zine tent
the chairs all say, "accept the cookies," so...
the dzama dance that started it all
"symbolic pins," they looked so nice clustered on a plain black t-shirt
sun-emblazoned string backpack, so lovely
in the ps1 stairwell
posters for sale at
just seeds, i love that they are "committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance."
above: some more bandanas at just seeds. (i bought the badger one!)
in the entire immense fair, nothing was quite as enthralling as these gorgeous screenprinted and marbled art books from
cinders gallery. their whole table was perfect and i can't wait to visit the gallery at 66 washington ave here in brooklyn.
above--more from cinders gallery.
an amazing tablecloth tapestry somewhere...
hilary l. pecis's gorgeous accordian books--she had many of different stars and other natural phenomena, each page a photo taken at a slightly different time.
the
tiny splendor table in the zine tent was another favorite. so much work that reminded me of my amazing friend
kayla e...i'm going to tell her about them! i greatly desired
this gorgeous zine.
john marriott in the zine tent had lots of funny stuff, including a fake "we are happy to serve you" paper coffee cup, with lots of, like, scissoring greek-urn people, that said "it's our service to pleasure you." the weather box plays a tune based on the weather conditions of a certain day. the "rustic futurist" air freshener looks like a cell phone tree...
art in the dome.
a genius idea by printed matter--sunprints made from crumpled paper
at the printed matter table. every page simply read, "why?"
"worm, i'm going to stomp on you." "thank you goddess."
these women also had a version of ben franklin's "don't tread on me." it showed a stiletto stepping on a snake, with the legend "please tread on me."
i bought that little green book at
hato press. their colorful table on the third floor was also a highlight.
hato press.
visual aids.
i love that geometric/floral wallpaper. one piece was $4! maybe i should go back tomorrow...
i loved the simplicity and consistency of the book design at
datz press. one of my favorite items that i couldn't afford to buy was amanda marchand's book (lower left) called "
night garden." i never thought about photographing flowers in the dark... the woman at the datz press table told me that marchand created the book as her mother was dying from cancer.
ps:
another haul, and
favorite things on the web
