In August 2009 Anne Tallentire gathered titles of books being read by employees at the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Titles and a line of text from each publication were collated and printed on sheets of paper. With this piece called ‘The Readers’, Tallentire wanted to uncover the often hidden contribution of the museum employees and their lives who work to make art visible. Debora Ando, a member of the staff at the museum, took some pages from ‘The Readers’ in order to collaborate with Ms. Tallentire through her printmaking practice.
Ando burnt Tallentire’s work down to ashes and created ‘An Act of Love’, an ephemeral two-page artist book composed of two circular ash pages, one an ash circle and the other a sentence.
The ashes are gently sieved through stencils to form delicate layers that will become pages of the book. This process is similar to the aquatint. However in exploring and incorporating new elements Ando is pushing the concept of reading and printmaking processes simultaneously.
Ando says: 'Printmaking essentially is the use of debris from a destructive action and the result of an embattlement of materials, processes and concepts to reach a balance between hand and mind. It is attack and resistance, potential and exhaustion.'
(‘An Act of Love’ was created in solidarity to CAM Art War* - a protest organized by Casoria Contemporary Art Museum (Naples) against the austerity measures adopted in Italy.)
A video also accompanies the piece.
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