CODEX VIII International Book Fair: April 10th through 13th at the Craneway Pavilion in Richmond
REMINDER:
I will be exhibiting artist books
under the imprimatur of
ath’wart press at TABLE 26.
What you might like to know about ath’wart press here and more at https://www.brookeholve.com/athwart-press:
ath’wart and “resistance”
—what role it plays in my art practice
—when I feel it, how I respond
—Do I react to or hold the feeling?
—Do I have other words to describe this experience? ie. willfulness, frustration, steadfastness, others?
Recently I read Roni Horn’s latest book, Island Zombie, Iceland Writings. She devoted an entire chapter to “weather reports”. We have our own internal weather reports, which for me the “resistance” front often shows up and passes through. I found her words insightful: ”The weather’s like that. If you don’t fight it, you become one with it and vanish. You cease to exist if you don’t show resistance and cunning. Some people are said to have an eye for the weather but that goes hand in hand with having an eye for life in general. They’re doubtless better hunters and fishermen and notice more things in nature.”
Resistance shapes. And it was an act of resistance that introduced me to art.
An ath'wart story:
I did not set out to be an artist and it took me awhile to proclaim that I was. My father planted the seed although at the time I did not realize it and he never did. Driving by an abstract sculpture one day he exclaimed “Why would anyone make something like that!” Internally I remember questioning “Why would anyone make something like that?”
Little did I know at the time, that turning a statement into a question was an act of transgression and the beginning of a life as an artist. Questioning opened a way.
The Or Not - An example of an art project that would not have happened if I had not encountered the “resistance” front. Ath’wart honors the role of mistakes and the opportunities offered while working. Artist Books (extracted from The Way Things Are catalogs) will be on display at Codex VIII, Table 26.
Another ath’wart story:
Eric Johnson, founding and former director of North Bay Letterpress Arts, had an exchange with his #2 son, Dino recently. His son occasionally sends him nonsense compositions. He recently sent a two-liner picking up on the oddness of one of my favorite words.
I once fought athwart
I lost
To this Eric responded:
We had a funny moment in the shop four years ago when Brooke Holve encountered a word in a text she was studying and called out to those of us in the room: “guys, what does ATH-wart mean? We tactfully explained that it was pronounced with accent on the other syllable and that it meant across the main direction etc etc. She had the reaction that it was very funny how wrong she had been and how ignorant. From that day on, she invented ATH-wart Press…it’s all explained on that web page.
To which Dino replied:
Ha! She athwarted athwart! They said it couldn’t be done.
Just for that, a bonus, no charge, dedicated to Holve Athwart:
Greed peels sweet needle skin
Up yup hip dippy rub grape space in ripped up crumb humps?
Like you said