Wool, Christopher; Girard, Sebastien

Black Book Twice [2024 LIMITED EDITION OF 350 - FINE]

Sebastien Girard, 2024. First Edition. Paperback. BOOK DESCRIPTION: Risograph printed publication, 40 pages, sewn bound softcover. First Edition limited to 350 copies and 8 APs. This is a "bootleg" variant of Wool's now exceedingly rare 1989 edition. It is the same size as the original: 16 x 13 inches (41.4 x 32.7 cm). Unpaginated with circa 34 pages featuring Wool's large black lettered pairings of words. Like the works of Duchamp or Richard Prince, Girard’s (re)appropriation of Wool's original in this instance means that his "Twice" version both copies yet takes up and complicates the original. By showing each of the 17 paintings printed twice (recto & verso) Girard's version forms new double-spread word combinations. The title "Twice" also suggests a second edition of one of Wool’s most sought-after publications; and the book is presented in a black bag, another nod to the black blank covers of Wool's original, published in 1989 by Thea Westreich (New York) and Gisella Capitain (Cologne). NB: The colophon for each book shows the exact same number 75/350, and the signatures are both facsimile/photocopied signatures (the same for each copy); meaning that the entire edition is numbered 75/350, and is NOT signed by Christopher Wool or Sebatien Girard. CONDITION: New

Sebastien Girard: "By double printing the paintings, I have created a new narrative, new double spreads, rendering Wool’s paintings unreadable. The copyright for this action (the double printing) is mine. It’s why I have added my credit on the title page and the colophon. To create confusion I have also numbered it 75. The subject of the book precisely questions notions of authorship and copyright." A relevant quote about artistic (re)appropriation from a book about roman sculpture: "The concept of artistic property as it has become familiar to us ...was foreign to the ancients; and when a work had once been created, no one had any qualms about taking it back, even if it meant improving its execution if possible. When Rome, through its conquests, came face to face with the masterpieces of the Greeks, it undoubtedly did not remain insensitive to them, but neither did it wish to compete with them, nor did it believe itself called upon to do so, assigning itself a different role. The consequence is that, even among the sculptures executed in Italy, many are not Roman art." As new. Item #4844

Price: $450.00