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You are here

Artist's Book
1992 (published)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This exquisite little book is encased within a blue silk covered carrying box, complete with a carrying cord so that it can be worn as a constant companion around the neck. A tiny compass is inlaid into a perspex window, behind which a recessed front compartment contains a series of miniature found objects including a hand holding a swinging pendulum and a pair of die. The themes of life as a journey and the chances we take are implied even before the box is opened. The book it contains opens to reveal a kind of pocket prayer book for the soul. The pages unfold in a complex, map-like structure and contain map imagery and a sequentially numbered text that helps us to navigate around the 'twists and turns of the human heart'.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleYou are here (published title)
Materials and techniques
Folding book, letterpress printed, bound, carying case bound in blue silk witn brass clasp, silk carrying cord, perspex panel and found objects including die, compass and sculpural hand
Brief description
Artist's book, 'You are here', by Julie Chen, Flying Fish Press, Berkeley, Calif., 1992

Physical description
Artist's book based on the allegorical idea of life as a journey. Three leaves fold out into the image of a map surrounding the book. Sewn with green thread into boards bound in blue woven silk, decorative stitching on spine. Textured gold-coloured end-papers. Paper label with 3-dimensional metal star affixed.
In a box bound in blue silk, fastened with a brass clasp and with a plum braided silk carrying strap; incorporating a blue-tinted perspex panel with a compass let in to the centre, below which the title design includes found objects: a hand holding a pendulum and dice. Letterpress printed on Fabriano Roma.

27 pages

NAL copy is no. 34 in an edition of 100 copies, signed by the artist.
Dimensions
  • Height: 10cm
Gallery label
(05/11/2019 - 04/04/2021)
Julie Chen (born 1963)
California-based Julie Chen was a leader in the late-20th-century flowering of book art. Since founding the Flying Fish Press in 1987 she has produced artists' books with an emphasis on three-dimensional and moveable structures. 'You Are Here' includes a carry-case set with a compass and a fold-out map for navigating an emotional landscape.
Summary
This exquisite little book is encased within a blue silk covered carrying box, complete with a carrying cord so that it can be worn as a constant companion around the neck. A tiny compass is inlaid into a perspex window, behind which a recessed front compartment contains a series of miniature found objects including a hand holding a swinging pendulum and a pair of die. The themes of life as a journey and the chances we take are implied even before the box is opened. The book it contains opens to reveal a kind of pocket prayer book for the soul. The pages unfold in a complex, map-like structure and contain map imagery and a sequentially numbered text that helps us to navigate around the 'twists and turns of the human heart'.
Other number
X930232 - NAL Pressmark
Collection
Library number
38041993108018

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Record createdFebruary 13, 2014
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