On Thursday, July 19th, in conjunction with the current exhibition The Arrow That Quits the Bow and Young Curators, New Ideas IV at Meulensteen Gallery, New York, pilot press… and Court Square invited artists and writers to present their self-published art books and/or books in progress. In addition, guests were encouraged to publish on-site and contribute to the pilot press… archive.
Presentations included:
Alexandra Lerman – Mind the Map
Nikki Schiro – tArt Collective
Sonel Breslav – Blonde Art Books
Patricia Silva – Sexless Roulette
The Arrow that Quits the Bow
pilot press…
Court Square (Ceren Erdem, Jaime Schwartz, and Lisa Williams)
The Arrow That Quits the Bow is an exhibition that is at once pedagogic, collaborative, active, productive and accumulative. The project features pilot press…, a DIY feminist publishing house run collaboratively by Jen Kennedy and Liz Linden and has been in operation since 2008. A part of an ongoing investigation into what ‘feminism’ means in the context of contemporary society, pilot press… seeks actively to engage a diverse audience and to initiate discussion around our most staid assumptions. The project is intended to be ephemeral, offered up as a counterpoint to the authority of traditional, mainstream publishing houses. Pilot press... provides a non-hierarchical, unedited, and uncensored look at the practices and production of the self-identified feminist community. By producing a DIY “canon” of new feminist work in a very public and uncensored manner, the press proposes, on its own terms, an antidote to the perceived stagnancy and inflexibility of the movement.
A mobile publishing house “installation,” pilot press… comprises everything a visitor needs to “self” publish their feminist writing and projects, including a high-volume printer or xerox machine, a bookbinding machine, an ISSN stamp, and a “library” shelf. Visitors are encouraged to print and bind as many copies of their work as they like; in exchange for this free publication service, they are required to leave a single bound copy of their publications in the pilot press… library for future visitors to access.
Deriving its title from Hélène Cixous’ 1975 text “The Laugh of the Medusa,” in which she issues a strong and resounding mandate to women everywhere to write, or else remain trapped within the boundaries of convention, The Arrow that Quits the Bow takes up this imperative.
Court Square is a Long Island City based gallery and project space devoted to supporting the production and exhibition of new work by emerging artists, writers, and curators. Court Square is currently run by Lisa Williams, Jaime Schwartz and Ceren Erdem.
Young Curators, New Ideas IV, organized by Mr. and Mrs. Amani Olu is on view through August 24, 2012
BLONDE ART BOOKS 