A global compendium of text, image, and material (dirt, water, metal, organic) samples gathered throughout the world over a period of 14 months, as well as many matrix sources from Studio Y in Alhambra, CA and Booklyn Studio in New York. Cloudburst affectively excavates a monumental narrative of global history both libratory and oppressive while also constructing an oblique incantation of poetic resistance activated with the reading of the book.

2010, 17” x 11.5” x 1”, 38 pages, unique
Media: acrylic paint, ink, wax crayon rubbings.
Paper: the text block paper is possibly the last batch of Walter Hamady’s Perishable Press Shadwell handmade un-sized paper. This lot of paper was given to Christopher Wilde over ten years ago a few years before Hamady stopped papermaking. The blue endpapers are of unknown but supposedly French origin.

Binding and cutting by Christopher Wilde

Locations of outdoor material and matrix samplings:
Germany:
Hamburg, Various public works
Offenbach Am Main, Nazi transport memorial plaques, various public works

California:
Route 49, the Forty-niner Highway in the Sierras, various plaques in various towns including:
Murphys(town of), various historical plaques
Angel’s Camp, Walk of Fame, Jumping Frogs of Calaveras Country plaques
Columbia, Mark Twain’s Cabin plaques
Los Angeles, Chinatown, various plaques and surfaces
Alhambra, South Pasadena, various plaques, tombstones, and surfaces

Hawaii, Oahu Island, Honolulu, and Waikiki:
Duke Kahanamoku Statue in Waikiki
war memorials, street signs, manhole covers, and various plaques

Manhattan, New York:
Architectural plaques, Park Avenue, 41st Street
Confucius Plaza Memorial, Chinatown
Kim Lau Memorial Arch, Chinatown
Library Walk, 41st, Fifth Avenue (featuring the poem “Forever Parted: Graveyard”, by Gu Cheng, 1956-1993)
Various public works