{"product_id":"twentysix-gasoline-stations","title":"Twentysix Gasoline Stations","description":"\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eMuch has been written about \u003cem\u003eTwentysix Gasoline Stations\u003c\/em\u003e, Ed Ruscha’s first publication. A milestone in the history of postmodern artists’ books, it marked a decisive shift from hand-drawn lithography to industrial offset printing and helped establish the artist’s book as an inexpensive art form. Ruscha’s publications of the 1960s were conceived as conceptual propositions, characterized by the interplay of abundant imagery, minimal captions, and the use of “text as image” on their covers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eTwentysix Gasoline Stations\u003c\/em\u003e embodies this approach. Its deliberately neutral photographs, restrained typography, and sequential format transform the ordinary into the subject of an artist’s book while challenging conventional notions of artistic hierarchy and uniqueness. The book documents, in photographs, twenty-six petrol stations along the legendary Route 66, the road that frequently brought Ruscha home, in Oklahoma, from his adoptive Los Angeles. More than a pictorial record of a road trip, the publication constitutes a statement in favor of the democratization of the art object, rendering the artist’s book both collectible and affordable.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe present copy is hand-numbered in red, 359\/400. In an interview with John Coplans, Ruscha reflected on this aspect of the publication:\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e“One mistake I made in \u003cem\u003eTwentysix Gasoline Stations\u003c\/em\u003e was in numbering the books. I was testing, at that time, that each copy a person might buy would have an individual place in the edition. I don’t want that now.” (\u003cem\u003eArtforum\u003c\/em\u003e, February 1965)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"x1yc453h x1hpqcdg x1ekroe6 xutxfr x1fie51u xgyxj25 xkyrhof x1elgs31 x1fv8qjw x1tbvfm1 xb72syl x1iew0xx x1c2l018 x14l7nz5 xuw7688 x1pjt2rx x160d6zm xrxpjvj\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThe subsequent publications were no longer numbered and were rarely signed.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Metabooks","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54601054716243,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1068\/8898\/6963\/files\/DSC4440_285d77cb-ce5f-45e2-b753-4d636ea76845.png?v=1789197043","url":"https:\/\/metabooks.art\/products\/twentysix-gasoline-stations","provider":"Metabooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}