111
Alighiero Boetti
1992
111
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Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as ...
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111
Alighiero Boetti
1992
Rome: Self-published
Unpaginated [222 pages]
30 × 21.5 cm
Edition of 160; signed and numbered 74/160

Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as well as the expanded version "I quindici libri rossi – 111", reflect his ongoing interest in systems and the balance between order and chance.


 


“Already in ’69, in Turin, when I used to go to the Rank Xerox showroom with my little coins in my pocket, I had so many ideas”, Boetti stated in 1991. “I would say: the photocopier is not just an office machine; by the year 2000 we’ll all have one in our living rooms! Give me one, and I’ll document some of its creative applications. I didn’t mean manipulating the mechanism or the ink, as some people had done, from Munari onward. No, what interested me was the standard application. But, for instance, I would have put it out on the balcony when it starts to rain: one drop, ten drops, a thousand drops…”


 


Boetti was fascinated that a photocopier could transform a simple, mechanical action into a process open to variation and surprise. In "111", each of the 111 photocopies reproduces a different newspaper clipping, turning fragments of everyday information into a serial composition. The title "111" is both a palindrome and the principle behind the work’s method of production: through repetition, a simple structure can generate countless possibilities. It suggests a kind of “contained infinity”, where endless variations unfold within a fixed system.


 


As in other works made with photocopying technologies such as "Nove Xerox Anne Marie" (1969), "Dossier Postale" (1969–1971), and "Autoritratto" (1971), Boetti questioned the traditional role of the artist as the sole creator. Instead, he allowed the machine, the process, and chance to become active participants in the making of the work.

Rome: Self-published
Unpaginated [222 pages]
30 × 21.5 cm
Edition of 160; signed and numbered 74/160

Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as well as the expanded version "I quindici libri rossi – 111", reflect his ongoing interest in systems and the balance between order and chance.

 

“Already in ’69, in Turin, when I used to go to the Rank Xerox showroom with my little coins in my pocket, I had so many ideas”, Boetti stated in 1991. “I would say: the photocopier is not just an office machine; by the year 2000 we’ll all have one in our living rooms! Give me one, and I’ll document some of its creative applications. I didn’t mean manipulating the mechanism or the ink, as some people had done, from Munari onward. No, what interested me was the standard application. But, for instance, I would have put it out on the balcony when it starts to rain: one drop, ten drops, a thousand drops…”

 

Boetti was fascinated that a photocopier could transform a simple, mechanical action into a process open to variation and surprise. In "111", each of the 111 photocopies reproduces a different newspaper clipping, turning fragments of everyday information into a serial composition. The title "111" is both a palindrome and the principle behind the work’s method of production: through repetition, a simple structure can generate countless possibilities. It suggests a kind of “contained infinity”, where endless variations unfold within a fixed system.

 

As in other works made with photocopying technologies such as "Nove Xerox Anne Marie" (1969), "Dossier Postale" (1969–1971), and "Autoritratto" (1971), Boetti questioned the traditional role of the artist as the sole creator. Instead, he allowed the machine, the process, and chance to become active participants in the making of the work.

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Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as well as the expanded version "I quindici libri rossi – 111", reflect his ongoing interest in systems and the balance between order and chance.

 

“Already in ’69, in Turin, when I used to go to the Rank Xerox showroom with my little coins in my pocket, I had so many ideas”, Boetti stated in 1991. “I would say: the photocopier is not just an office machine; by the year 2000 we’ll all have one in our living rooms! Give me one, and I’ll document some of its creative applications. I didn’t mean manipulating the mechanism or the ink, as some people had done, from Munari onward. No, what interested me was the standard application. But, for instance, I would have put it out on the balcony when it starts to rain: one drop, ten drops, a thousand drops…”

 

Boetti was fascinated that a photocopier could transform a simple, mechanical action into a process open to variation and surprise. In "111", each of the 111 photocopies reproduces a different newspaper clipping, turning fragments of everyday information into a serial composition. The title "111" is both a palindrome and the principle behind the work’s method of production: through repetition, a simple structure can generate countless possibilities. It suggests a kind of “contained infinity”, where endless variations unfold within a fixed system.

 

As in other works made with photocopying technologies such as "Nove Xerox Anne Marie" (1969), "Dossier Postale" (1969–1971), and "Autoritratto" (1971), Boetti questioned the traditional role of the artist as the sole creator. Instead, he allowed the machine, the process, and chance to become active participants in the making of the work.

Rome: Self-published
Unpaginated [222 pages]
30 × 21.5 cm
Edition of 160; signed and numbered 74/160

Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as well as the expanded version "I quindici libri rossi – 111", reflect his ongoing interest in systems and the balance between order and chance.

 

“Already in ’69, in Turin, when I used to go to the Rank Xerox showroom with my little coins in my pocket, I had so many ideas”, Boetti stated in 1991. “I would say: the photocopier is not just an office machine; by the year 2000 we’ll all have one in our living rooms! Give me one, and I’ll document some of its creative applications. I didn’t mean manipulating the mechanism or the ink, as some people had done, from Munari onward. No, what interested me was the standard application. But, for instance, I would have put it out on the balcony when it starts to rain: one drop, ten drops, a thousand drops…”

 

Boetti was fascinated that a photocopier could transform a simple, mechanical action into a process open to variation and surprise. In "111", each of the 111 photocopies reproduces a different newspaper clipping, turning fragments of everyday information into a serial composition. The title "111" is both a palindrome and the principle behind the work’s method of production: through repetition, a simple structure can generate countless possibilities. It suggests a kind of “contained infinity”, where endless variations unfold within a fixed system.

 

As in other works made with photocopying technologies such as "Nove Xerox Anne Marie" (1969), "Dossier Postale" (1969–1971), and "Autoritratto" (1971), Boetti questioned the traditional role of the artist as the sole creator. Instead, he allowed the machine, the process, and chance to become active participants in the making of the work.

MORE BOOKS

Rather than using the photocopy as a way to create identical copies, Alighiero Boetti saw it as a tool for exploring the relationship between human ideas and technology. Artist’s books such as this one, as well as the expanded version "I quindici libri rossi – 111", reflect his ongoing interest in systems and the balance between order and chance.

 

“Already in ’69, in Turin, when I used to go to the Rank Xerox showroom with my little coins in my pocket, I had so many ideas”, Boetti stated in 1991. “I would say: the photocopier is not just an office machine; by the year 2000 we’ll all have one in our living rooms! Give me one, and I’ll document some of its creative applications. I didn’t mean manipulating the mechanism or the ink, as some people had done, from Munari onward. No, what interested me was the standard application. But, for instance, I would have put it out on the balcony when it starts to rain: one drop, ten drops, a thousand drops…”

 

Boetti was fascinated that a photocopier could transform a simple, mechanical action into a process open to variation and surprise. In "111", each of the 111 photocopies reproduces a different newspaper clipping, turning fragments of everyday information into a serial composition. The title "111" is both a palindrome and the principle behind the work’s method of production: through repetition, a simple structure can generate countless possibilities. It suggests a kind of “contained infinity”, where endless variations unfold within a fixed system.

 

As in other works made with photocopying technologies such as "Nove Xerox Anne Marie" (1969), "Dossier Postale" (1969–1971), and "Autoritratto" (1971), Boetti questioned the traditional role of the artist as the sole creator. Instead, he allowed the machine, the process, and chance to become active participants in the making of the work.

MORE BOOKS