Vision of hope
By: Mary L. Taylor
Contributors: Jobs, Steve, 1955-2011, author; Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron, 1809-1892, author; Hendrix, Jimi, author; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition; Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Artists' Books Collection (Columbia University. Rare Book and Manuscript Library)
Publisher: [publisher not identified]
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Marshfield, MA]
Language: eng
Subjects: Violence; Pictorial works; Booksellers and bookselling; Bombings; Iraq War, 2003-2011; Protest movements; Books and reading in art; Intellectual life; Social conditions; Censorship; Terrorism in art; In art; War and civilization; Vehicle bombs; Visual literature; Specimens; Cultural property; Destruction and pillage; Peace in art; Dogma; Islam; Doctrines; Artists' books; Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition
Description: This collection supports and promotes awareness to the important mission and framework of the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition's focus on the lasting power of the written word and the arts in support of the free expression of ideas, the preservation of shared cultural spaces, and the importance of responding to attacks, both overt and subtle, on artists, writers, and academics working under oppressive regimes or in zones of conflict, despite the destruction of that literary/cultural content.

"The underlying text is from the Qur'an; Revelation of Abraham, with the overlaying text from Steven Jobs, Lord Alfred Tennyson, Jimi Hendrix, and the artist. The Revelation of Abraham was copied in English and Arabic from the website Oneummah.net, then duplex printed onto the paper. The printed pages were chopped up into 1-inch strips, woven and pasted back together again, creating a random surface. The woven text sheets were white-washed to obliterate more of the text. Then gradient images with text were then inkjet printed onto the surfaces of the new paper. The result is a remix of ancient dogma, with a hope for a peaceful new understanding"--The Book Arts at the Centre for Fine Print Research, UK website.

"I work with a diverse assortment of old and new materials to creatively communicate personal interests and resolve internal conflicts. My intent is to visually integrate and express universal relationship with earth, spirit and humanity, while inspiring viewers to consider their own connection to these themes. In my studio, you'll find flat files and cabinets filled with hand made papers, printmaking papers, sheet metal, wood, stones, gelatin, limestone, acrylics, oils, pastels, wax, inks and pigments, as well as found objects. The tools in my studio range from computer, digital printers, digital cameras, scanner, brushes, knives, brayers, drill, hammers, clamps and saws. Materials come to me from art suppliers, friends, hardware stores, dumpsters, recycling bins, thrift shops, and tag sales. From all these resources, I create one of a kind wall hung art and artist's books. Occasionally, I will create variant multiples (editions of 2 to 10 pieces). Many of my art pieces include digitally collaged photographic images that I meld with hand wrought surfaces, applying appropriate contemporary printmaking and image transfer processes. Inspiration for the assemblages and artist's books frequently starts with found objects and discarded bits and pieces that stimulate an association in my mind. To create artist's books, my ideas are expressed with painted paper, collaged papers, and monoprints"--Artist's statement from the artist's website (viewed July 23, 2015).
Notes: Printed in an edition of 10.

Medium: Pamphlet-sewn binding, laser and inkjet printed onto collaged Sundace Text paper.

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. Al-Mutanabbi Street is located in a mixed Shia-Sunni area. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. Al-Mutanabbi Street, the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, holds bookstores and outdoor bookstalls, cafes, stationery shops, and even tea and tobacco shops. It has been the longstanding heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community for centuries. In response to the attack, a San Francisco poet and bookseller, Beau Beausoleil, rallied a community of international artists and writers to produce a collection of letterpress-printed broadsides (poster-like works on paper), artists' books (unique works of art in book form), and an anthology of writing, all focused on expressing solidarity with Iraqi booksellers, writers and readers. The coalition of contributing artists calls itself Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition.

Gift; Beau Beausoleil; 2019-2020.

English and Arabic.