{"product_id":"foolscrap","title":"Foolscrap","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eCurrently based in Suffolk, Scottish artist Telfer Stokes is best known for his sculptural practice and his pioneering approach to the artist’s book as both a material and conceptual form. Drawing on the radical re-evaluation of the relationship between text and image associated with Ed Ruscha’s early editorial projects, Stokes uses photography and sparse text to explore the narrative, formal and conceptual possibilities of the book as a medium.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Foolscrap” is the second artist’s book in a series of six paperbacks published by Weproductions between 1972 and 1978. Its premise is deceptively simple: images of mustard seeds appear to take root and “grow” through the pages of the book. They are interspersed with seemingly random images of objects accompanied by incongruous captions, as well as photographs of Kodak contact sheets depicting vintage electronic devices which, in turn, display other photographic images. The mise-en-abyme thus created extends beyond the images themselves, drawing attention to the conditions of their presentation and reproduction. In an interview with Cathy Courtney, published in “Art Monthly” in November 1989, Stokes explains:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“I drew the camera away from the photograph so you saw the edge of the layout or the edge of the book. That introduced a more self-conscious area, a way of saying that the view of the page was over the book.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e“Foolscrap” consequently unfolds as a self-reflexive book in which not only the depicted image, but also the page, its edges and its physical support become integral to the work. Rather than using text to explain an image, or an image to illustrate text, Stokes treats both photograph and text as material elements within the structure of the book. The work thereby shifts attention from what the book depicts to how the book itself produces and mediates meaning.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54551904551251,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC4314.png?v=1786436682","url":"https:\/\/metabooks.art\/products\/foolscrap","provider":"Metabooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}