Bookworks - Jim Johnson
BOOKWORKS
A partial bibliography of book works produced between 1978 and
2023
A table of selected books can be found at: Printed Matter, Inc.
BEYOND WORDS, A book of words, phrases and images that transcend text., 2023, 55 pages, 7 X 9", paperback, perfect bound, edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com
NO MEAN FEET: Typewriter & Rubber Stamp Poems 1969-1987, Wry n.8, Wry Press, 2021, 8.5 x 11", 52 pages (7 in color), Hand Stamped Wrap Around Dust Jacket, Two 6x6" Letterpress Prints tucked in, edition of 150. Available at WRYAWRY.
TALKING STORY WITH STAN, A collection of great drawings, funny and human stories about surfing and life in the islands by Stan Kawasaki, compiled by Jim Johnson. 2021, 90 pp., 7 X 9", paperback, perfect-bound, edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com.
SNARES & CAGES, Snares and cages, words and phrases.
Drawings and designs, word pictures and signs. 2019, 72 pp., 7 X 9", paperback, perfect-bound, edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com.
SELECTED BOUND BOOKS, 2018, books, glue, assorted fabrics, various sizes.
TWO BOUND BOOKS, 2017, books, glue, canvas, thread, 8 X 5 1/2" each. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
I AM WHAT I ATE - UNDISCOVERED, pigment print, 2017, 8 X 11". Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
MY LIFE, An accordion fold alphabet book with the words MY LIFE inserted in the alphabetic order. Cut out letters are set in the Albers typeface. 2018, 26 pp., 1 1/2 X 3", banded, ed. of 5. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
TAKE IT, Twelve business-size cards printed on both sides, 2017, 12 pp., 2.25 X 3.5", inkjet on card stock, manila envelope, ed. of 18. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
NO TITLE NO CREDIT, A book of found phrases, concrete poetry and other miscellany. Dated from 1983, the text is set in Comix Regular, an original digital typeface. 2018, 90 pp., 4.25 X 6.88", paperback, perfect-bound, edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com.
NO MEAN FEET, A book of typewriter and rubber stamp poems created between 1976-1987. 2018, 48 pp., 5.83 X 8.26", paperback, perfect-bound, edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com.
LETTERS TO LIBRARIES, Five books, each consisting of one phrase. Each page in each book is one letter of the phrase. The pages may be installed so as to spell out the texts in order. 2015, 149 pp., 4 X 4", inkjet on card stock, ring binders, boxed edition of 6. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
MIND IS THE BINDER, An alphabet book with the title phrase embedded in it. Mulitiple installations possible. 2015, 33 pp., 4 X 4", inkjet on card stock, ring binder, edition of 10. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
ELLIPSIS, A selection of charcoal drawings created between 2011-2015. 2015, 74 pp., 7 X 7", hard bound, edition open, POD. Available from Blurb and Abecedarian Artists' Books.
PARSE, an alphabet book with the title word embedded in it. 2015, 28 pp., 2 1/2 X 2 1/2", inkjet on card stock, ring binder, edition of 10.
A BOOK IS A STACK OF PRINTS, an alphabet book beginning with the title and finished with the remaining letters in alphabetical order. It may be installed in various ways. 2014, 36 pp., 4 X 4", inkjet on card stock, ring binder, edition of 10. Available at Abecedarian Artists' Books.
TEXTS FOR TYPE, Six texts were specifically written to be set in six uniquely different and original typefaces; Aurora, Comix, Magic Squares, Stresdt, Skeletons, and Spankie. 2013, 50 pp., 4 X 7", paperback, perfect-bound, edition open, POD. Available from Printed Matter, Inc. and Lulu.com.
TIME'S WALLET, is an interactive multimedia CD-ROM by artist Jim Johnson and writer Steve Katz. Comprised of text from selections of the author's "Memoirrhoids," the work engages the reader/viewer in the graphic interpretations of the visual artist. For Macintosh computers only. 2010, CD ROM, 5 X 5 1/2", limited edition. Available from Printed Matter, Inc.
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IMPASTO, An alphabet book of painted letters, the pages show both the front and the back of each letter in full color. 2009, paperback, perfect and/or spiral bound, 57 pp., 7.5 X 7.5", edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com and Printed Matter, Inc. and Abecedarian Artists' Books.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS, A typographical rendition of famous last words, actual and colloquial; parting shots and farewells. Written backwards, the phrases are read as though in rewind mode. 2008, paperback, perfect-bound, 73 pp., 4 X 6 3/4", edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com and Printed Matter, Inc.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS, A PDF book of pencil drawings of famous last words. 2008, 72 pp., 8 1/2 X 11", edition open, POD. 5.1 MB Download
MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED, A cautionary blank book, May Not Be Reproduced begs the question of rights of reproduction. Can a blank book be copy protected?
Features a text warning against unlawful copying without the permission of the publisher. 2008, paperback, spiral bound, 126 pages, 4 X 6 3/4", edition open, POD, Available at: Lulu.com and Printed Matter, Inc.
MAGIC SQUARES 1-9, consists of the numbers 1-9 set in the Magic Squares font. Each number is scaled by a factor equal to itself. Thus, one is scaled once and the sequence reversed, two is scaled twice, etc. A kind of flip book, the number of pages is determined by the procedural scaling method. 2007, paperback, perfect-bound, 113 pp.,4 X 6 3/4", edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com and Printed Matter, Inc.
AURORA A-Z, This alphabet book is set in Aurora, an original digital typeface. The number of pages is determined by the number of letters as they appear in alphabetical order. So there is one A, two B's, etc. But an added bonus is that flipping the pages makes for an interesting perceptual combination of reading and scanning, a kind of dance which is elicited by the graceful letters of this typeface. 2005, paperback, perfect-bound, 358 pp., 4 X 6 3/4", edition open, POD. Available at: Lulu.com and Printed Matter, Inc.
QUOTE CARDS, A set of business cards of various quotations by Thoreau, Huang Po, LeWitt, Duchamp, Broodthaers, Canetti and others. 2004, laserprints on cards, banded, 22 pp., 2 X 3 1/2", edition of 28, 2 A/P deluxe editions, each in either a leather or aluminum miniature brief case. Available at:
Abecedarian Artists' Books.
BRUSH AND INK DRAWINGS, A sketchbook of brush and ink drawings ca. 1985.
These drawings were originally published in a Hypercard stack. This is the first printing of a hard copy edition of drawings on various themes such as the Full Length Feature and Heartface series of drawings. Also included are sketches for several paintings completed around that time. 2004, paperback, wire-o binding, 198 pp., 7 1/2 X 9", OOP.
MAGIC SQUARES, A folio book of squares derived from the Chinese magic square of nine discovered in the Lo Shu river valley. As displayed in a grid at the end of the book, each row of square numbers adds up to fifteen. A unique feature of the design is that the odd numbered figures are the visual negative of the even numbers. In the Chinese cosmology this would represent a reconciliation of heaven and earth and male and female principles. 1999, laserprints, 24 pp., 3 X 3", edition of 10. Available at: Abecedarian Artists' Books.
VOLTAIRE: CANDIDE OR OPTOMETRY S+7
is a typographical transformation of the first chapter of the novel,
Candide
by Voltaire.
Sometimes referred to as S+N, S+7 is a literary constraint
used by the Oulipo, a group of poets whose work is characterized by
various formal procedures, applied to texts of their own or others. The
procedure in this case is to replace each noun in the text with that of
the seventh entry ahead in a dictionary. This version uses two typefaces, Bell MT and Anagram, an original digital font, 1998, 24 pp., 7 1/2 X 10", edition open, POD. 116 KB Download
LAS GLORIAS, Unbound folded pages can be read as pairs of images or as a linear progression which, in the case of Las Glorias, advances and then retires as the front and backs of the images are presented. Las Glorias consists of magazine fragments, a map and a bus transfer ticket left in the artist's car by a transient overnight visitor. They are both a gift and a record. 1998, dye sublimation prints on recycled card stock, 14 pp., 5 1/2 X 8 1/2", edition of 10.
TREASURE
A found record of a cache of items stored in the wall of an old house. The folio format is used in this book to pair formally similar personal objects. 1998, dye sublimation prints on Arches watercolor paper, 8 pp., 5 1/2 X 8 1/2", edition of 10. Available at: Abecedarian Artists' Books.
THIEF L
A set of eight cards comprised of the elements of a 1992 installation.
The six letterform sculptures represent those letters that could be
constructed with bricks in only horizontal and vertical forms. These
wood and acrylic sculptures were installed with a six foot chair and a
laserprint poster at galleries in Cincinnati, Milwaukee and Boulder from
1991-93, edition of 100, 1997, laserprints, 10 pp., 4 1/4 X 5
1/2". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc. and Abecedarian Artists' Books.
FOUR LETTER WORDS
A facsimile of an earlier (1978) hand-made book of "dirty" words in
acrostic form on plain brown paper, laserprint, edition of 100, 1993, 11
pp., 5 X 5". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
INDEX
A book of letters of the English alphabet, each paired with the image of
an unusual object. Originally created as an index for use in the
creation of pictures according to verbal structures, it is a complete
work in itself, offset, edition of 500, 1992, 28 pp., 4 3/8 X 5
3/8". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
SAY
An alphabet book spelled phonetically and composed in an original
typeface, Aurora, offset, edition of 500, 1992, 30 pp., 4 3/8 X 5
3/8". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
A THOUSAND WORDS
A boxed edition of unbound pages of single words composed in an original
typeface of human skeletons. Each page consists of a word generally
relating to human existence, qualified in part by the visual nature of
the typeface, laserprints, edition of 25, 1991, 1000 pp., 4 1/2 X 8 X 6". Available at: Abecedarian Artists' Books.
DEAD AIR
A book of words completing various phrases beginning with the word dead
and composed in the Skeletons typeface, offset, edition of 500,
1991, 32 pp., 4 1/2 X 8". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
ACROSTICS
A book of four letter word squares composed in the Eon typeface.
A revised edition of an earlier book published in 1978, offset, edition
of 500, 1990, 24pp, 4 X 4". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc. and Abecedarian Artists' Books
FACADES
A book of words and images creating tight visual and verbal
relationships, offset, edition of 500, 1990, 22 pp., 5 1/2 X 8
1/2". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc. and Abecedarian Artists' Books.
AS PRETTY AS A PICTURE
A book of familiar figures of speech. This revised edition of an earlier
book published in 1980 provides the bold face words required to complete
the grayed out phrases originally left to the reader to fill-in, offset,
edition of 500, 1990, 54 pp., 4 X 4". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
HAND STAMP ONLY
Six rubber stamped images on tracing paper unbound in an envelope,
edition of 9, ca. 1990, 6 pp., 3 1/2 X 6 1/2"
SECOND THOUGHTS
The artist's first electronic book. More one-liners, found phrases and
assorted word forms in the spirit of Concrete Poetry, Hypercard stack,
68K, floppy disk, 1988
VAMPIRE CAMERA
A book of epigrammatic video reflections produced on the Honeywell video
graphic recorder and xeroxed in an edition of 50, 1985, 19 pp., 8 1/2 X
11". OOP. 304 KB Download
LOOSE DIAMONDS
One-liners, found phrases and assorted word forms rubber stamped on
newsprint in an edition of thirty, 1984, 12-25 pp variable, 8 1/2 X
11". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
AS PRETTY AS A PICTURE
An expanded version of an earlier book of familiar figures of speech
requiring reader fill-in, rubber stamp/hand stitched, edition of 30,
1980, 54 pp., 5 1/2 X 5 1/2". Available at: Abecedarian Artists' Books.
CART ARIA RIOT TATS
Evocative pencil renderings of four letter word squares, offset, edition
of 1000, 1978, 56 pp., 8 X 8". Available at: Printed Matter, Inc.
POD: Print On Demand
OOP: Out Of Print
