Detail : R.H. Quaytman, Orchard Spreadsheet, 2009
Announcing the Specific Object 2009 Publication of the Year Award
Given to R.H. Quaytman for Orchard Spreadsheet
Specific Object is pleased to announce that our judges have named
Orchard Spreadsheet, by R.H. Quaytman, the Specific Object 2009
Publication of the Year.
According to the artist, the
Orchard Spreadsheet is a conceptual
drawing based on the idea of a financial spreadsheet. In it Quaytman
shows a complete list of Orchard's three years of programming from 2005
to 2008. Orchard was a collectively organized for profit exhibition and
event space on New York's Lower East Side run by twelve partners - The
spreadsheet outlines every exhibition, artist, artwork exhibited,
title, date, media and price, followed by whether or not the individual
work sold and if so, to who and finally, what percentage of the sale
went towards Orchard’s operating expenses and how much commission was
earned for the seller and the artist.
The reading orientation is right to left, referencing Hebrew as is the
Circumcision font used for the word Orchard. The Jewish roots of
Orchard’s neighborhood and previous tenants of the Orchard space in
Lower Manhattan is referenced by this layout and design. R.H. Quaytman
worked closely with graphic designer Geoff Kaplan who also designed her
book
Allegorical Decoys. The work reflects both conceptual art
histories and the artist own detail oriented job as director of
Orchard. Additionally it includes how much monies in dues each of the
founding members contributed. It is an historic documentation of a
moment, the boom times in the art industry, a record of Orchard’s
program, and the huge swings in market value from one artist to
another, from conceptual art to painting, from film to photography and
other mediums. In the end Orchard's sales just barely covered the rent.
Specific Object's judges responded strongly on two primary levels to
the publication: the blunt honesty of the the project, which exposes
the definitive artistic and fiscal history of Orchard; and the
project's emblematic graphic design.
R.H. Quaytman, is a New York City based artist whose work is included
within in the Whitney Biennale 2010 exhibition on view through May 30,
2010.
In October 2010 Quaytman will present a commissioned project for the
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and in November 2010 will be the
subject of a survey exhibition at the Neuberger Museum of Art, in
Purchase, New York. Quaytman is represented by Miguel Abreu Gallery,
New York.
Orchard Spreadsheet is a one-color inkjet print on 208 GRS Photorag
Hahnemühle Acid Free Paper, measuring 82 x 51 inches [208 x 130 cm.].
It was published by MER. Paper Kunsthalle, Gent, in an edition of 10
signed and numbered copies, priced at $4,500 (plus shipping and sales
tax), may be ordered directly from Specific Object at:
www.specificobject.com/Orchard_Spreadsheet
A full-scale PDF of
Orchard Spreadsheet may be downloaded at:
www.specificobject.com/projects/2009_Award/Orchard-Spreadsheet.pdf
In addition to
Orchard Spreadsheet, the judges also wish to
acknowledge three additional outstanding publications for 2009 from the
over 900 submitted titles:
Kay Rosen : AKAK published by Regency Arts Press Ltd.
In Numbers : Serial Publications by Artists Since 1955
, by Andrew Roth, Philip Aarons, Victor Brand, Clive Phillpot, Neville Wakefield,
Nancy Princenthal, and William S. Wilson, published by PPP Editions and
JRP / Ringier.
Unconcealed : The International Network of Conceptual Artists 1967 -
77; Dealers, Exhibitions and Public Collections
, by Sophie Richard,
edited by Lynda Morris, published by Ridinghouse.
About the Specific Object Publication of the Year Award
Since 2004 Specific Object has selected a Specific Object Publication
of the Year. The winner of the 2004 Specific Object Publication of the
Year Award was Jonathan Monk for his book
Cover Version, published by
Book Works U.K.; the winner for 2005 was Philippe Parreno's
Fade to Black, published by mfc-Michäle Didier; 2006's award was presented to
0 TO 9 : Limited Facsimile Edition by Vito Acconci & Bernadette Mayer
as part of the Ugly Duckling Presse / Lost Literature Series; 2007's
award was presented to
Esopus magazine; and the 2009 award winner was
The Mug by Sarah Lucas and Olivier Garbay, published by Other
Criteria.
Winners of the award receive a cash prize and the title of Publication
of the Year. Rules for consideration for the Specific Object 2010
Publication of the Year award can be found at:
www.specificobject.com/projects/Publication_Call
About Specific Object
Specific Object is a gallery, bookstore and website based in New York
City.
Specifically, Specific Object is an attempt to isolate distinct works
of value - historically, monetarily and / or personally valuable - and
show them in an isolated context without the artifice of visual
confusion or clutter in hopes of allowing these works, or objects,
their own place, space and time. The materials shown range from
artists' publications, ephemera, prints, multiples and other editions
to literature, music / audio works and unique artworks of the
contemporary world.
From 1998 through 2004 Platzker was the Executive Director of the
non-profit institution Printed Matter, Inc. He is also the co-author,
and co-curator - with Elizabeth Wyckoff - of
Hard Pressed: 600 Years
of Prints and Process (International Print Center New York & Hudson
Hills Press, 2000); and - with Richard H. Asxom - the book and
exhibition entitled
Printed Stuff: Prints, Posters, and Ephemera by Claes Oldenburg: A Catalogue Raisonné 1958-1996 (Madison Art Center & Hudson Hills Press, 1997), which was awarded the George Wittenborn
Award for Best Art Publication of 1997 by the Art Libraries Society of
North America. Platzker has also curated exhibitions of the works of
John Baldessari, Marcel Duchamp, Donald Judd, Bruce Nauman, Oldenburg,
Dieter Roth, and Edward Ruscha in addition to commissioning or curating
exhibitions at Printed Matter of Angelblood, Larry Clark, Erin
Cosgrove, Meg Cranston, General Idea, Jenny Holzer, Reverend Jen, Allan
Kaprow, Yoko Ono, Ryan McGinness, Sonic Youth, Tom Sachs, David
Tremlett, Richard Tuttle and the Guerrilla Girls.
In November 2004 Specific Object acquired the inventory of Bound &
Unbound from Barbara Moore.
Specific Object is located at 601 West 26th Street / Floor 2M / Room
M285, New York, NY 10001. Telephone (212) 242-6253.
For more information regarding Specific Object please visit its
website: www.specificobject.com or email
[email protected]
This press release is archived at:
www.specificobject.com/projects/2009_Award
