22CHALLENGES

The Artists’ Book Club

22 CHALLENGES

DEIRDRE PRETORIUS | JEAN LAMPEN JO-ANN CHAN | ERICA LÜTTICH

17 September - 8 October 2022

David Krut Projects, The Blue House

Jo-Ann Chan

Jean Lampen

Deirdre Pretorius

Erica Lüttich

INTRODUCTION

Historians have hypothesised that the continued growth of human innova tion and creativity flourishes during times of great crisis. Over the last few years we have observed rapid societal changes that occurred due to the recent global pandemic, which paints a clear picture of this hypothesis un folding before our very eyes.

22 Challenges, proudly presented by The Artists’ Book Club (ABC) and David Krut Projects, showcases a body of work by four book-artists that was cre ated as a response to the various ways in which the Covid-19 pandemic had forced creatives to explore alternative and innovative methods to connect with each other and create art. These works, relating to the genre of artists’ books, also reflect the experiences of each of these four artists as they nav igate the challenges of collaborative creative processes within the confines of geographical self-isolation.

Melissa Waters & Amé Bell David Krut Projects

EXHIBITION STATEMENT

2020 marked the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic and with it came a glob al shift to minimise physical interaction and shared spaces in the interest of containing the spread of the virus. Lockdown regulations inadvertently turned computer and cellphone screens into closely watched windows onto the out side world as individuals retreated into the bubbles of their own homes. The once public spaces of meeting rooms, offices, coffee shops and public events were replaced by living rooms, bedrooms and dining room tables that were turned into makeshift offices and studios as interactions moved onto online platforms where possible. Interactions that were once firmly located in the pub lic and professional spheres found their way into the no-longer private spaces of our homes as we welcomed individuals into these intimate spaces through our screens; the line between public and private blurred. The interior design, our knick-knacks, the distractions in the background told stories of who we were, what we were experiencing and what we surround ourselves with, to an audi ence we would not usually share these with.

In arts communities, there was a short-lived productivity spurt as creatives were forced to retreat from the distractions of the social world, able to reflect and create. However, creativity also feeds off of interaction and after a while, new forms of connection and collaboration were sought as the bubbles of home offices and studios began to feel smaller over time. New prompt-based arts ini tiatives on social media emerged, those that already existed flourished, online creative work sessions were created to simulate working in a shared office, free

workshops were hosted on Instagram live and Facebook live and workshops or courses that used to be hosted in person were rethought, restructured and re tooled for online delivery. In the absence of physical exhibitions and art fairs, art practices shared on social media and via virtual meeting platforms became a means to connect, to share these personal experiences that were bound by the universal thread of the pandemic and to work through the process of adapting to a new normal.

The work presented reflects an intersection of these influences. Drawing inspi ration from the Quarantine Public Library zine project by Katie Garth and Tracy Honn (https://www.quarantinepubliclibrary.com/about), bi-weekly prompts were provided to the participating artists as a starting point from which to explore, and experiment with techniques, media, conceptual approaches and new artmaking practices to develop a response that fit the format of an eight-page zine, and later, other formats. Physical meetings that were held in Johannesburg prior to lockdown were moved to online platforms and these virtual meetings were a space to reflect on the work produced and maintain healthy connections. Creative exploration is a vulnerable process of trial and er ror and while the final products may not always divulge that vulnerability, they are the result thereof. The original zines, art- and bookworks were produced with the intention to share these experiences in the safe space created by the participating artists but may now find a more universal resonance with a wider audience through the visual and textual narratives captured in their pages.

CONTENTS

PG 1

Artworks by Deirdre Pretorius

PG 7

Artworks by Jo-Ann Chan

PG 11

Artworks by Jean Lampen

PG 19

Artworks by Erica Lüttich

DEIRDRE PRETORIUS

Deirdre Pretorius is an Associ ate Professor at the University of Johannesburg in the Graphic Design Department of the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture (FADA). She cur rently lectures Design Studies on undergraduate level and supervises postgraduate stu dents in the Honours Design, MA Design and PhD (Art and Design) programmes.

Her creative practice revolves around creating artists’ books. Her most recent exhibited work was Dead Living Things, A Cabinet of Curiosities in the Postcolony. This installation and artistst book was exhibited in 2021 at the FADA Gallery as part of Interventions in Prac tice, the FADA Staff Exhibition.

@deirdrepretorius

BOOK 1

Sugar lift etchings with digital print chine-collé (320x395mm)

Variable edition printed by Bevan de Wet on Hahnemuhle Natural white with Mingeishi Natural white chine-collé sheets containing digital prints

ARTIST STATEMENT

On 23 August 2020 the first of 22 challenges was posted on the Artists’ Book Club (ABC) Facebook page and the last on 10 October 2021. All of the challenges were drawn from the small book “The Artist’s Eye” by Peter Jenny (2012), a book that aims to “open your eyes to the incidental, to the suggestions of images in every day objects, to the beauty in the ordinary, such as blotches, clouds, scratches, etc” (Jenny 2012:7). Under the heading of “rubbing” the first task asked for the creation of a rubbing from a textured surface using pencil. This was the start of the work which is displayed in the exhibition.

In completing the tasks I used a variety of materials and techniques, including co loured pencil, inks, paints, marbling, graphic software, photography, found images and digital collage1. I used the resulting visual imagery to create three seven-page leporellos (concertina folded books) which reflect on the passing of time. I then used “Book 1 Days” as the inspiration for developing an image for an etching work shop offered by artist and printmaker Bevan de Wet ( https://www.bevandewet. co.za/ ) on the printing techniques sugarlift and chine-collé. After creating the printing plate and experimenting with these techniques the final variable edition of 14 prints was printed by Bevan.

These artworks are as much, if not more, about the process than they are about the final products. The process was largely collaborative in that the project was undertaken with Jo-Ann Chan, Erica Lüttich and Jean Lampen, and throughout its progress we met online, showed, reflected on and discussed the work. The process then extended to my collaboration with Bevan de Wet in learning from him new printing techniques and working together in developing the final printed edition.

3

BOOK 1 DAYS

BOOK 2 WEEKS

BOOK 3 YEARS

Digital print on ILFORD Fine Art Textured Silk paper (190x140mm folded)

BOOK 1 DAYS

Digital print on ILFORD Fine Art Textured Silk paper (190x140mm folded)

BOOK 2 WEEKS

Digital print on ILFORD Fine Art Textured Silk paper (190x140mm folded)

BOOK 3 YEARS

Digital print on ILFORD Fine Art Textured Silk paper (190x140mm folded)

Sugar lift etchings with digital print chine-collé (320x395mm)

Variable edition printed by Bevan de Wet on Hahnemuhle Natural white with Mingeishi Natural white chine-collé sheets containing digital prints

1 Digital collage image credits

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: June_Lockhart_1947.JPG https://pxhere.com/en/photo/695852 https://unsplash.com/photos/87ev1NvhDsU https://unsplash.com/photos/bnWmD3-dpvw https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tptafja9 https://www.pexels.com/photo/hippos-in-wa ter-46540/

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/nl/collectie/ SK-C-1466

JO-ANN CHAN

Jo-Ann Chan completed a Master of Arts degree in Graphic Design with a focus on illustration and printmaking. She is currently an illustration lecturer at the North-West University and continues to engage with creative practice through the Johannesburg chapter of the Artist’s Book Club, her own authorial practice and freelance work. Her creative work taps into illustration practices, book arts and storytelling. She has contributed to group exhibi tions nationally and had her first solo exhibition in 2019. In her capacity as an academic, her research engages with identity studies, practice-led research, design education and artist’s books.

[left] CHIN UP

2020, 1-colour risograph print on archival Stephen Ivory (420x297mm)

Edition of 25

[right] BUSY BEE

2022, 5-colour risograph print on archival paper (420x297mm)

Edition of 25

ARTIST STATEMENT

Tiny Tales is a series of art zines and associated risograph prints that capture some of my personal lockdown stories translated through the lens of the prompts provided. The original experimental pieces and zines were later curated into four thematic anthologies and adapted for risograph printing to unify the rather disparate aesthetics that were a natural result of the open-ended exploratory process. Each zine is a diary entry of sorts; the raw and vulnerable stories cloaked in literary devices and diffuse imagery. These very brief stories of a single (admittedly privileged) individual are of no real importance in the bigger picture of the global efforts to contain the pandemic; and are rather insignificant in comparison to the very real strug gles for survival that others faced. However, many of the zines reflect some of the common themes that emerged in news and social media over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic: frustration, a shift in work-life balance, nostal gia, introspection, confusion, loss, and even hope.

TINY TALES SERIES: LOCKDOWN COLLECTION

Anthology Vol.1,2,3 & 4

2022 3-colour risograph zine anthologies on archival Munken Pure and Folia (120mm x 155mm)

Open variable edition First run of 25 for each anthology

LOSING MY MIND

JEAN LAMPEN

Jean Lampen qualified as a pharmacist in 1981, after which she pursued her passion for the visual arts and arts practices. She has attended workshops under the likes of Diane Victor and Carl Jeppe, to name a few. Her current artistic practice showcases her illustrative flair and life drawing skills in watercolours or monochro matic ink and washes but her repertoire also includes oils and sculpture.

Having participated in numer ous exhibitions since 1995, she continues to exhibit regularly in South Africa. The exhibitions to which she has contributed most recently include “Fear and Loss” (Oliewenhuys, Bloemfontein, in 2014), “Sehn sucht” (Aardklop, Potchefst room, in 2016), “Disappear ance” (NWU Main Gallery,

Potchefstroom, in 2017), “Night music” (Aardklop, Potchef stroom, in 2018) and various other exhibitions in 2019 and 2020 at the Snowflake Building in Potchefstroom as a member of the Potchefstroom Arts Society. Internationally, her work was included in the digitally curated exhibition “Sweet little nothings” hosted by People and Paintings Gallery (New York) in 2021; and she has twice been invited to participate in artist’s resi dencies at the Cite des Artes Internationale (Paris, France), exhibiting work there as part of her participation.

She has also taught illustration modules at the North West University, Potchefstroom, in the Graphic Design subject group and has presented short courses for the North-West University’s Creativity Centre.

ARTIST STATEMENT

I explore the strange and fascinating juncture of the seri ous and the absurd to create transformative and reflective perspectives on the pervasiveness of “knowledge”, brands and intuitive associations. What are the physiologies that shape our bodies, our beliefs, and our ontologies? How do we “know”? Recycling old texts, understanding that the Pope himself is a brand, perhaps, like maize meal, raise questions about the commodification of our minds, but also about the sheer joy of deconstructing and recycling our surreal and burlesque world. Initiatives such as Laugh it-off and Pop Art whimsies inspire me. While iconoclastic, perhaps, a sardonic and humorous take on the texts that we have become reveal how we inscribe meanings onto things and people, and how the information superhighway levels all hierarchies. I make the mundane strange by forging together the sublime and the ridiculous to show how all commodities (including ourselves) are socially conditioned and inscribed. I hope to generate a sense of mirth and in trospection, albeit tongue in cheek. The artist’s book as an art form allows for narratives to flow from one page to the other; tangential issues thus become threads of themes that carry over as the book is perused.

FOLLOW YOUR LUCKY STAR 2022 Watercolour and ink pen (112mmx154mm folded) Unique bookwork

ALTERED BIOLOGY

SA BRANDS ALTERED

Unique

SUPERIOR INSTANT MAIZE MEAL: CLEVER CHOICE

2022, Watercolour and ink pen (350mmx480mm)

FIVE ROSES: SMOOTH CEYLON BLEND

2022, Watercolour and ink pen (350mmx480mm)

WIRED PEOPLE SERIES: THAT THING BETWEEN US

2022, Wire in resin epoxy (200mmx200mm)

WIRED PEOPLE SERIES: ANOTHER ONE?

2022, Wire in resin epoxy (200mmx200mm)

BEEFY BOVRIL: MEAT & VEGETABLE EXTRACT

2022, Watercolour and ink pen (350mmx480mm)

DOOM: LONG LASTING EFFECT

2022, Watercolour and ink pen (350mmx480mm)

WIRED PEOPLE SERIES: HEAVY WORKLOAD

2022, Wire in resin epoxy (200mmx200mm)

WIRED PEOPLE SERIES: WHO IS FOLLOWING WHO?

2022, Wire in resin epoxy (200mmx200mm)

PORTRAIT 1

2022

Collage, stitching and resin in stainless steel spoon

PORTRAIT 2

2022

Collage, stitching and resin in stainless steel spoon

WIRED PEOPLE SERIES: GOING SOMEWHERE

2022, Wire in resin epoxy (130mmx205mm folded) Unique bookwork

PORTRAIT 3

2022

Collage, stitching and resin in stainless steel spoon

ERICA LÜTTICH

Lüttich studied at Ruth Prowse School of Art in 1981-1983 before becoming a film editor. Since 1985 she has worked with many well-known directors in the Johannesburg film industry and contributed to several international productions. During 1992 she enrolled at Unisa (BA Fine Arts). This led to a parallel career as Creative Facilitator-Director within the field of Arts & Craft and Social Development in Hillbrow, Soweto, Sharpeville, Diepsloot, Bitou Municipality, Northern Cape and Karoo.

In 2002 she joined the Boitu melo Project in Hillbrow. Her collaborative work with Boitu melo addressed past histories but also developed individual creativity, economic empower ment and a sense of self.

Lüttich developed a curriculum to ex plore the possibilities of making prod ucts with found and natural objects and raised environmental conscious ness with projects across Southern Africa. In more recent years, Lüttich has worked on various Land Art projects, with international artists during the Global Nomadic Art Project, Stories of Rain 2016, and local communities to tackle issues of diminishing indigenous animal and plant populations. She relocated to the Hex River Valley in 2020. There she engaged with a group of women and co-created the HEXlap pies. Lüttich continually produces art in various media including Photography, Video Installations, Sculpture, Land Art, Textile Art and Stitching.

#17 LETTERS TO SOUTH-KOREA 2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

#17 WOOD IN MEMORY OF MY FATHER 2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

THE 50% OFF CHALLENGE

2022

Recycled cotton paper with red hibiscus botanical dye. Stitched with red hibiscus dyed cotton printed on rice paper. Stitched binding with rust dyed calico cloth (150mmx1450mm unfolded)

Unique bookwork

ARTIST STATEMENT

Stories, and therefore books, have always played a pivotal role in my life. Both my mother and father read to us as children. In my privileged home, my mother read to us ‘Uil spieel’ and ‘Liewe Heksie’ in Afrikaans and my father about the evolution of this earth and its people and ‘Grimm’s Märchen’ in German. So, when I was invited to join the ABC bookmaking group in 2018, I was delighted. We collective ly engaged with various book projects from the magical Melville Koppies series to the Decolonial Book Arts Project initiated by Chris Reinders.

The start of this 22 Challenges Project was a book that Deirdre Pretorius found at a sale. We were deep in Covid Lockdown and much had changed in our group that deep ly affected us. We embarked on a journey to extend beyond our own boundaries through art-making. Various tasks in this project certainly challenged me to explore new ideas and techniques. I really enjoyed some tasks, while others proved to be a struggle. As my creative process is very or ganic and based on found materials and the re-purposing of found objects, this more meticulous and carefully con sidered approach was challenging. I had to

find solutions to alter my art making practice to adjust to these tasks, and I was not always successful. I, naturally, enjoyed the challenge about shadows and found many leaves, blossoms and twigs on my walking journeys in De Doorns. This was a visual language that I understood. The Hex River Valley, that I live in, has magnificent mountains (Matroosberg being the highest mountain in the Western Cape) and the clouds are equally impressive. These were the two tasks that particularly inspired me. Over the last two years, documenting my environment through daily walks was incredibly rewarding and it has been a pleasure to be able to experience my sur roundings and explore the details through these challenges in different media and on different platforms. I was walking with my eyes on the ground for shadows and searching the sky for clouds.

As a group we met twice a month via Microsoft Teams due to our geographical distances but we still engaged with all the complex questions artists worldwide grapple with. We had conversations of how to unpack and reposition our own realities within the various challenges the world finds itself in. As artists we have responsibilities to question society; do we try to fit into this world or question the climate and social challenges through our art making practices? The answers are unclear to us as well as many other questions around the dilemma of trying to live on this Earth in a sustainable manner. This we decided, should always be on our minds as we explore the possibility of a future.

#8 CLOUDS LEPORELLO Schoeller

2022 Digital print on Felix Schoeller True Fibre Matt paper with linen bookends embroidered with embroidery cotton (145mmx4400mm)

Unique bookwork

#8 CLOUDS IN HEX RIVER VALLEY

2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

#10 GAME - MY MOTHER’S QUILTING

2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

#11 CHAOS NOT IN NATURE

2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

#13 SHADOWS WITH JO-ANN

2022, Digital print (297x420mm)

Exploring accordion books, leporellos and other folding structures at the Jack Ginsberg Centre for the Book Arts

Participating artists: DEIRDRE PRETORIUS | JO-ANN CHAN JEAN LAMPEN | ERICA LÜTTICH

The Artists’ Book Club was conceived on the final day of the Book nesses Colloquium held from 24 to 26 March 2017 at the University of Johannesburg as a way to build on the excitement generated by and the opportunities presented by the conference.

The ABC is a voluntary community of book artists. We aim to cre ate a space for collaboration and to grow our own and others’ understanding of the conception, production, distribution and consumption of book arts through activities such as discussions, exhibitions, demonstrations and workshops.

Our first meeting in person and in Johannesburg post Covid-19 lockdown

DAVID KRUT PROJECTS

The Blue House

151 Jan Smuts Ave, Parkwood, Johannesburg, 2193

info-jhb@davidkrut.com https://davidkrutprojects.com/ +27(0)11 880 4242

THE ARTISTS’ BOOK CLUB

www.facebook.com/abc.johannesburg.chapter

dpretorius@uj.ac.za jo.chan.online@gmail.com jeanlampen@hotmail.com ericaluttich@gmail.com

© 2022 Amé Bell, Melissa Waters, Deirdre Pretorius, Jo-Ann Chan, Erica Lüttich and Jean Lampen PHOTOGRAPHY Deirdre Pretorius, Jo-Ann Chan, Erica Lüttich and Jean Lampen | LAYOUT Jo-Ann Chan