Do not lament / Monica Oppen. Song of the axe / Marie E.J. Pitt
- Bib ID:
- 7834713
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Oppen, Monica, book artist, binder
- Description:
-
- [Stanmore, New South Wales] : Ant Press, 2018
- 16 unnumbered pages (2 folded) : illustrations (some colour) ; 33 x 46 cm, in clam-shell box 34.5 x 47 x 2 cm.
- Series:
- Botanikos project ; book no. 10.
- Notes:
-
- "'Do not lament (The song of the axe)' is book no. 10 in the Botanikos project. Concept, design and binding by Monica Oppen, as are the drypoints, photographs (transfer printed) and the text 'Do not lament.' The poem 'Song of the axe' by Marie E.J. Pitt. was first published in 1925 by Edward A. Vidler in Melbourne in a collection of her poetry, 'The poems of Marie E.J. Pitt'" -Colophon.
- Limited edtion of 7 copies of which 6 are for sale.
- National Library of Australia's SR copy is no. 3/7 and signed by the artist.
- An artist's book that responds to Pitt's 1925 poem, which expresses joy in chopping down trees and clearing the land. Monica Oppen notes that since then, "extreme land clearing has been recognised by ecologists as an environmental disaster. Yet broad scale clearing continues. Pioneering Australia's relationship with the land was defined by clearing it, and this attitude still underpins modern Australia's relationship with the land but devoid of any noble intentions, just for making money. In some sectors there is almost a wilful blindness to the biodiversity and ecological significance of the 'bush'". Pitt's poem links culture and cultivation, suggesting that clearing awakens the slumbering land, which then can be cultivated and from the timber cities can be built. It implies that with cities comes culture. Oppen's lament for the falling of the trees stands at cross purposes to Pitt's poem in both text and images that plot the regrowth from cleared land to forested. The text for poem 'The song of the axe,' the title and colophon were transfer printed. The text 'Do not lament' was offset printed, the numbers on main image were rubber-stamped. Sixteen recycled steel plates (using the reverse side of previously used photopolymer printing plates) have been used to create the images. The medium is drypoint printed intaglio. The eight photographs were transfer printed. The 'grid' in the main image was relief-printed off a cardboard block. Paper is Magnani Il Torchio 200 gsm. -Based on information from the artist.
- Binding:
- Drum-leaf binding. Decorated bookcloth. Cloth covered clamshell box with 'Do not lament' text reprinted on the interior. The cover of each copy is unique. The images were created by masking and pushing water based relief ink into the exposed spaces. The process is two staged with the process being repeated to get the second colour.
- Awards:
- Finalist, 2020 Libris Awards: The Australian Artists' Book Prize, Artspace Mackay.
- Subject:
- Other authors/contributors:
- Also Titled:
- Song of the axe
- Exhibited:
- Place: an exhibition of artist's books, Panizzi Gallery, University of Wollongong Library, 11 August - 14 October 2018.
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2018
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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