Little Books (1 book of complete set), Sibyll Kalff

Title:
Little Books (1 book of complete set)
Artist:
Sibyll Kalff
Price:
$150.00
Dimensions:
6.00" x 4.00" x 0.00"
Medium:
indian exercise book size approx. Din A5 mixed media, drawings, photos, collages, 2004
Description:
Little Books exercise-books for indian schoolkids are sibyll kalff's raw material for a project alignment, that ranges between a (travel) diary, sketchbook and artist book. about 50 such objects originated in the last two years, during travels or at home. within the individually artistic work of sibyll kalff, they tie up to earlier editions and handsewn books. but this "little books" are intended to be sculptural and installative objects. they are not shown in the typical traditional style - either presented to leaf through or being shown in display cabinets, but they are represented dangling with opened pages from the walls. consequently the book objects do not appear as biblophile information carriers, but as art-objects to invite the visitor of the exhibition to contemplate. each one of the "little books" contains collages, drawings, paintings, texts, among other quotes as well quotes from her own songtexts, photos, letters, notes, sales slips and baggage quittances from flights. the blotters are stored in times between exhibitions convincingly in an old suitcase. some "books" focus on a specific person, for exampe jimi hendrix and are meant to be hommage books, other books are hommage books to countries, others document and reflect with historic photos taken from a photo album with family pictures very personal lifecircumstances and the memories of them. the "little books" are to be understood as an archive, displaying relicts from time-travels through real and imaginary worlds. real existing places can experience a mythical charge in retrospect, only understandable for someone who shares the same emotional feelings towards that place. but we know it for sure: not only the outer world changes, but as well the impact, that a place represented. sibyll kalff collects moments. she makes impressions and sentiences of very specific moments coagulate in this books. therefore the "little books" radiate an atmosphere and show artistically a contiguousness not only to the beat poesia of a william burroughs or jack kerouac with his spontanious prose, but as well to the situationists living in the fifties of the 20th century. the image-text combinations are settled in a neo-dadaistic tradition, that bramarbased painter sovereigns of the 20th century allways treated with suspiciousness. in this dadaistic style pasted into bustickets of the american greyhound line experience an artistic recycling and together with photos as a snap-reading method and short diary-stylish notes, those collaged momentos in the books are outspread, being kaleidoscopelike splinters, that are above all one thing: authentic. text (c) jürgen raap, 2006 translation (c) sibyll kalff, 2006