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: Witte de With - Publication - Tempting Fate by Swimming Alone
Type: artist book Publication date: 2008
Witte de With Publishers proudly present the first monographic publication devoted to the work of British performance artist William Hunt (b. 1977), produced on the occasion of his solo exhibition at Witte de With, curated by Belinda Hak and Nicolaus Schafhausen.
Rather than separated pages, the book cover holds a folded paper that, on one side, reproduces a performatively made silk-screen of the artist’s body and, on the other, a compilation of texts by critic Sally O’Reilly, alongside production stills of said silk-screen. Collectively titled “A Litany of Stoppages”, her selection of texts by novelists, philosophers, journalists and humorists offer insights into Hunt’s far-reaching encounters with the romantic image of the artist, performance anxiety and our cultural fascinations with physical duress.
As O’Reilly writes in her introduction: “Just as Hunt constructs actions and situations in which materials and causality appear to work against the ultimate goal, these indirect and glancing narratives and descriptions tug in all directions too. What results, however, is a sense of the universe of binds and double binds, the pitfalls and victories, the bravura and pathos of the performer.”
Limited Edition of 500
With the compilation of texts “A Litany of Stoppages” by Sally O’Reilly
Edited by Belinda Hak and Monika Szewczyk
Design by Atelier Carvalho Bernau, The Hague
Size: 220 x 159 mm (unfolds to 1080 x 840 mm)
Format: Hardcover
Images: 6 monoprints (production stills) and 1 duotone print (a copy of a specially produced silkscreen)
ISBN 978-90-73362-83-3
Price: €25,-
Distribution
The book is available at Witte de With and via the following distributors:
D.A.P., New York (USA only), online catalogue: www.artbook.com, e-mail dap@dapinc.com, phone +1 212 627 1999
Cornerhouse, Manchester (UK and Ireland only), online catalogue: www.cornerhouse.org, e-mail publications@cornerhouse.org, phone +44 161 2001503
Idea Books, Amsterdam, (The Netherlands and all other countries) online catalogue www.ideabooks.nl,
e-mail: idea@ideabooks.nl, phone: +31 (0)20 6226154
