The Boy and the Bird
Emmett Williams, Tom Wasmuth (ill. by)
1969
The Boy and the Bird
Fullscreen
PAUSE
00:00
For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to ...
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The Boy and the Bird
Emmett Williams, Tom Wasmuth (ill. by)
1969
Cologne, London and Reykjavik: Edition Hansjörg Mayer
Unpaginated [180 pages]
23 × 24.5 cm
Edition of 350

For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to Dorothy Iannone. Wasmuth’s intervention extends from the cover to the geometric black sections meant to be cut out, accompanying each section of the poem. The resulting interplay of image and text creates a side-by-side encounter between concrete and narrative poetry.


 


The colophon makes explicit the logic of this interaction: “The cover photograph illustrates the intention of the artist. To realize this intention, the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph.” In this copy, the proposed intervention has already been enacted.


 


This interactive artist’s book was exhibited in 2024 as part of "Text as Image" at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside a profusion of concrete and visual poetry publications, as well as entirely “white books”.

Cologne, London and Reykjavik: Edition Hansjörg Mayer
Unpaginated [180 pages]
23 × 24.5 cm
Edition of 350

For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to Dorothy Iannone. Wasmuth’s intervention extends from the cover to the geometric black sections meant to be cut out, accompanying each section of the poem. The resulting interplay of image and text creates a side-by-side encounter between concrete and narrative poetry.

 

The colophon makes explicit the logic of this interaction: “The cover photograph illustrates the intention of the artist. To realize this intention, the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph.” In this copy, the proposed intervention has already been enacted.

 

This interactive artist’s book was exhibited in 2024 as part of "Text as Image" at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside a profusion of concrete and visual poetry publications, as well as entirely “white books”.

DESCRIPTION

For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to Dorothy Iannone. Wasmuth’s intervention extends from the cover to the geometric black sections meant to be cut out, accompanying each section of the poem. The resulting interplay of image and text creates a side-by-side encounter between concrete and narrative poetry.

 

The colophon makes explicit the logic of this interaction: “The cover photograph illustrates the intention of the artist. To realize this intention, the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph.” In this copy, the proposed intervention has already been enacted.

 

This interactive artist’s book was exhibited in 2024 as part of "Text as Image" at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside a profusion of concrete and visual poetry publications, as well as entirely “white books”.

Cologne, London and Reykjavik: Edition Hansjörg Mayer
Unpaginated [180 pages]
23 × 24.5 cm
Edition of 350

For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to Dorothy Iannone. Wasmuth’s intervention extends from the cover to the geometric black sections meant to be cut out, accompanying each section of the poem. The resulting interplay of image and text creates a side-by-side encounter between concrete and narrative poetry.

 

The colophon makes explicit the logic of this interaction: “The cover photograph illustrates the intention of the artist. To realize this intention, the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph.” In this copy, the proposed intervention has already been enacted.

 

This interactive artist’s book was exhibited in 2024 as part of "Text as Image" at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside a profusion of concrete and visual poetry publications, as well as entirely “white books”.

MORE BOOKS

For this publication, American poet and visual artist Emmett Williams collaborated with Tom Wasmuth to illustrate his 90-part narrative poem “The Boy and the Bird”. Conceived as a contemporary fable, the poem was dedicated to Dorothy Iannone. Wasmuth’s intervention extends from the cover to the geometric black sections meant to be cut out, accompanying each section of the poem. The resulting interplay of image and text creates a side-by-side encounter between concrete and narrative poetry.

 

The colophon makes explicit the logic of this interaction: “The cover photograph illustrates the intention of the artist. To realize this intention, the reader may cut out the black area of each page and remove the cover photograph.” In this copy, the proposed intervention has already been enacted.

 

This interactive artist’s book was exhibited in 2024 as part of "Text as Image" at Studio 454 in Venice, alongside a profusion of concrete and visual poetry publications, as well as entirely “white books”.

MORE BOOKS