Date

2020

Edition Size

1

Media

Collage, Digital print, Etching, Hand-painting, Ink, Inkjet, Letterpress, Photo, Rubbing, Silkscreen, Wood block

Binding

Pamphlet

Format

Artist Book

Dimensions

17 × 12 in

Location

Brooklyn, NY

Printer

Michael Kempson, Cicada Press

$ 3,800.00

Unavailable


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Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

Don’t Ask is an assembling of drawings, prints, photographs, and rubbings integrated by a poem written by Marshall Weber during the darkest moments of his Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in a room with two windows facing a brick wall in Brooklyn, NY in March and April of 2020. Using numerous calligraphy strategies and media to combine the text and image Weber evokes the timeless purgatory of these confused, isolated and melancholy times. The book’s variant-sized pages are tiered and framed each other as they dramatically descend and ascend to the middle center-fold, thus foreshadowing and reminiscing each other and their subject matters.

The art is sourced from his personal collection of gifted and discarded artworks from across the world and decades and includes a wide variety of materials ranging from a remnant of a Hieronymus Bosch poster that Weber had in his bedroom during his 1970’s childhood to a printing test page the Erik Ruin had wrapped some other artwork in and sent to Weber in 2019.

Artists in order of appearance:
Book design, calligraphy, collage, text: M. Weber
Cover: M. Weber, text by Daniel Woodrell,
printing by Michael Kempson/Cicada Press

1. (inside cover) LMNOPI
2. Eric Ruin
4. Peter Spagnuolo
6, 7. Sto Len
8, 9, 10, 11, 12.  Organik (Kurt Allerslev, Christopher Wilde, with Laura Smith)
13. Hieronymus Bosch
Centerfold. stationary of Engine # 353, the 9/11 ‘Ghost’ brigade, New York City Fire Department
Back Cover. Art, John Kricfalusi, character, Marland T. “Ren” Höek

As might be evident, every page credit is a sheet credit as the book is symmetrical in structure with the exception of the cover.

A LOCKDOWN LIBRARY JOINT