We were kindly asked to present a reading list for the lending library at 72 Rivington Street, home of YCN. We headed down there for a very pleasant evening last night to present our choices. You can see what we picked and why we choose them below. If you want to take out any of the books or one of the other fantastic titles available, simply pop into the library and sign up for free.
'Gordon Matta Clark; works and collated writings' (chosen by Luke Best)
In times when the term 'street art' is used about work that has no real connection to the physical environment we live in and everyone is scrambling to get onto the property ladder it felt appropriate to look at the work of Gordon Matta-Clark. As well as being visually arresting his work deals with community, questions of space, its function and how we value it.
'The Craftsman' by Richard Sennett (chosen by Andrew Rae)
Anyone interested in a career in the arts will need to to work hard and take pride in what they do. This book looks at why people do just that.
'The Art of Looking Sideways' by Alan Fletcher (chosen by Andrew Rae)
Great book for flicking through every now and then, it's full of thoughts and ideas collected from a lifetime in design.
'Unfold/Enfold – An Art Book' by Kveta Pacovska (chosen by Marie O Connor)
The first time I picked this book up and opened the cover, it sprung open, back-flipped and fell on the floor. Highly embarrassing and exciting all at once. Because of it’s concertina folds, it works both forwards and backwards, and this duality, like the title, makes this book many different things. To me, it’s a live art object. It’s playful in it’s visual language but also in the approach it requires to look at it. The colour, drawing, tactility, production values and structure allow the reader to see new things each time they re-visit; new compositions through the die cuts, revealing more possibilities beneath the pop ups.
'Come Alive! The Spirited Art of Sister Corita' (chosen by Miles Donovan)
Sister Corita Kent. B.1918, was an artist and educator who taught for over thirty years at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles. One of the most unusual and innovative pop artists of the 1960s, revolutionizing graphic design and encouraging the creativity of thousands of people, all while living and practicing as a Catholic nun. She worked almost exclusively with silkscreening, helping to establish it as a fine art medium. Her artwork, with its vibrant, joyful messages of love and peace, was particularly popular during the social upheavals of the 1960s and 1970s. This book published by Four Corners in 2006 mainly covers the period of time when she was head of art at the college between 1964 and 1968, before leaving to devote her life to making art in Boston from 1968 until her death in 1986.