Art Projects

little but often, an artist's book by Ronald King and Richard Price, published by Circle Press, pairing Ronald King at his most elegantly minimalist with a new suite of love poems by Price (mode: witty, tender). Image and info at Vamp & Tramp

Arc Editions is the collective set up by Victoria Bean, Karen Bleitz and Sam Winston. Richard Price has worked with Arc Editions in the past. In the article "Words in Process" in the Artists Book Yearbook, 2008/9 he gives an illustrated account of their work.

The Mechanical Word, five mechanical books by Karen Bleitz and Richard Price, Circle Press, 2005. Limited edition of twenty copies. First shown at the Circle Press exhibition, The Pentagram Gallery, London, May 2005.

The book artist Karen Bleitz conceived the idea of books which would explore the political and emotional sub-texts of the mainstay English verbs. This uses the idea of a grammar of language, written by Karen in often a funny sly way, to face a mechanical object within the book whose movement demonstrates the underlying edginess of the verbs (to have, to do, etc). A third element, a text which dramatises the verbs, interacts with the mechanical object once the page is turned. Karen used 3-D computer modelling software to plan the books, especially critical for understanding their moving parts before investing in the laser cutting of the physical objects, and I supplied the dramatising text. The project evolved over several years, changing colour, design and text as we actively collaborated on its development, revising and re-thinking our own contributions as we went on. It is the most genuinely collaborative work I’ve yet done, and I especially like the way a broadly theoretical framework, constructivist blocks of colour, physical animation, and very human vocal texts, come together.

A Twenty-Piece Puzzle, text by Richard Price, visual art by Chan Ky-Yut, Lyric Press, 2004, Limited edition of three copies. Private collections.

Release Every Pattern, sculpture by David Annand with text by Richard Price and Leona Medlin. Staines High Street, 2004. Winner of Spelthorne Design Award, 2004.

Both Leona and myself were based in Staines and knew a bit about its history. We were approached by David for a text, and we each wrote one or two, advised each other on them, then offered David the selection. He took "Release Every Pattern" which, as well as remembering the industrial history of the town, invites readers to think of every kitchen and bathroom as a place of art, not just galleries. The poem winds itself round the roll of lino the two figures in the sculpture are carrying.

Renfrewshire in Old Photographs (with Raymond Friel), Mariscat, 2000 Buy this book

It was only after we'd published this book and I began to see more and more artists' books which were text-based conceptual works, often with very little visual element, that I realised Raymond and I had made that kind of artists' book without knowing it. Raymond's re-use of interviews with survivors of the bombing of Clydeside during the war, his recreations of voices down the centuries, and my own poems which also populate a "Renfrewshwhere" that is both known and not really known - all that really does add up to an artists' book in the text-based tradition. Hamish Whyte at Mariscat was so open to the project, and the fact that Raymond and I had known each for years but knew very different parts of the county and brought that experience to the range of texts - well, it's one of my favourite books.

Gift Horse, text by Richard Price, drawn in wire by Ronald King, Circle Press, 1999. Limited edition of fifty copies. Buy this book

I'd wanted to collaborate with Ron King ever since I became aware of the range and richness of his and other Circle Press books. The white horses inscribed on the English downs, especially the near abstract Uffington Horse, were the inspiration for the book. Ron saw straight away that a white-on-green approach would be too simple and his blind-embossed horse, which uses shadow and light itself, moving as the pages are turned, is such a full-of-life complement to the text. The book starts at a stand-still and ends with a gallop. I would make books with Ron forever, if I could.

Sense and a Minor Fever, texts by Richard Price with illustrations by Peter Robinson, Vennel Press, 1993 Buy this book

Peter Robinson talked at length with me about the poems and the ideas behind the collection before embarking on the work, and the drawings capture what I hope is the gentle surrealism of the texts.

All texts unless otherwise stated are © Richard Price