The rhomboid shape of this book is a striking example of a structure that manipulates the way that the viewer experiences the book. ‘Real lush’ is over 2 inches thick and comprises 315 leaves bolted together within a stiff red cover. The positioning of the bolts and the resulting tight, angle binding was intended to help flip open the book, but also to hide a good proportion of the book in the spine. For Osborn books are about revelation and concealment.

‘Real lush’ is a largely visual work with perceptible sequences of images, overprinted layer upon layer. Individual elements of imagery reappear as visual refrains throughout the work. Some sequences of images depict movement: a man running from left to right, or a bird flying off the page. The book paraphrases the experience of growing up in a close-knit, vocal, voluminous family.

Although the book can be perused slowly and deliberately, page by page, its tactile structure lends itself emphatically to flipping through it at breakneck speed, the viewer experiencing a dynamic onslaught of sensory overload.