{"product_id":"hard-light","title":"Hard Light","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eConceived with Lawrence Weiner, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHard Light\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1978) is Ed Ruscha’s fourth collaborative artist’s book, following \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eRoyal Road Test\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1967), \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eBusiness Cards\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1968), and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eCrackers\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1969), each made with a different artistic partner. Structured as a photo-novel starring Shelley Chamberlain, Suzanne Chandler, and Susan Haller, the publication loosely recalls the road-movie narrative of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eRoyal Road Test\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, in which three male friends – Mason Williams, Patrick Blackwell, and Ruscha himself – throw a typewriter out of the window of a 1963 Buick LeSabre.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eLess dramatic and performative, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHard Light\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e documents a day in the lives of three women in Los Angeles: by the sea, in the kitchen, or driving a Fiat through the neighborhood. The story unfolds across nine chapters composed entirely of images (65 photographs), until a text interrupts the photographic sequence at its climax: “IN THE YEAR 2000 ALL RACECAR DRIVING WILL BE TAKEN OVER BY WOMEN.”\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWritten by Weiner, this phrase, like many of his statements, is not to be taken \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003ead litteram\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e but, in this context, as an open-ended proposition that disrupts the narrative flow. It invites several possible readings: Is it a prophecy? Are the three women planning something? Are they subverting the hypermasculine world of car racing? Or are the two artists, kindred spirits in their deadpan humor, introducing a conceptual proposition as an act of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003edétournement\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eResonating with Umberto Eco’s theory of the open work, the publication becomes an \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eopera aperta\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, leaving the phrase suspended in a field of multiple interpretations.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eHard Light\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e is the 24th artist’s book for Weiner and the 16th for Ruscha. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":55343869657427,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC5032.png?v=1791875007","url":"https:\/\/metabooks.art\/products\/hard-light","provider":"Metabooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}