artist books
Vostok
Edition of 30 signed and numbered
Letterpress and screen print with hinged wooden covers
Published by Dolphin Press & Print, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore MD
Text, images & design: Michael Bartalos
Collaborating printers: Kevin Auer and Abigail Uhteg (letterpress); Matthew Lincoln Yake (screenprint)
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
Vostok refers to the largest subglacial lake in Antarctica. Preliminary research shows that Lake Vostok supports active micro-organisms that evolved in isolation for several millions of years. However, until scientists devise a way to study this uniquely pristine environment without contaminating it, its lifeforms remain as much a mystery as those beyond our atmosphere. Vostok speculates on these lifeforms that link deep ice to deep space.
Xopan
Paper edition of 24 signed and numbered
Laser printed on Accent Opaque 100# Cover, bound with red 100% pearl cotton hand embroidery thread
Self-published
Xopan, named for the the Nahuatl word for summer solstice, was inspired by an 8-week stay in Mexico City. The book exists in two forms: as a paper edition (shown here) and as a hand-sewn fabric edition (currently in production). Both versions reference the ancient Aztecs of Mexico and their celestial observations, beliefs, and notions of ‘layered’ time.
29 Degrees North
Deluxe edition of 29 signed and numbered
Screen print, foil stamping, thread, bolts
Published by the San Francisco Center for the Book
Text, images & design: Michael Bartalos
Printing: Nat Swope
Binding: John DeMerritt
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
29 Degrees North refers to the degree of latitude shared by six destinations depicted in this artist's travelogue. From west to east, the poem and images progress from Mexico to Morocco, through India on to China and Japan before concluding in the North Pacific. The two-color accordion-fold structure unfolds to a 7-foot long display. The edition is housed in a two-tray drop-spine box covered in ribbed Japanese book cloth with a foil-stamped map, thread and bolt embellishments, and a translucent title band. It is the first of the SFCB’s artist-in-residency publications.
29 Degrees North
Open trade edition
Letterpress, screen print
Published by the San Francisco Center for the Book
Text, images & design: Michael Bartalos
First letterpress printing: Leif Fairfield
29 Degrees North’s trade edition is a small-scale unnumbered version of the deluxe edition above. One-color letterpress-printed images extend over an accordion-fold structure bound in a wraparound blue cover. The text is screen printed on a vellum insert accompanying the package. It is the first of the SFCB’s “Small Plates” editions.
Cryo Primer 1
Edition of 25 signed and numbered
Ink jet printing on laser-cut vellum 8-fold structure, housed in laser-cut and laser-etched nitrile rubber sleeve.
Published at Xerox PARC Residency, Palo Alto CA
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
Cryo Primer 1 is fashioned from a single 9”x12” translucent sheet, printed front and back, and laser cut to create a pop-up book with 3-D elements throughout all three spreads. The book takes cryotechnology as its theme with text that reads “A is for Atom; B is for Bot; C is for Cryo that Freezes the Lot.” Housed in a white laser-cut rubber sleeve bound with aluminum screw posts.
Sleep Deep Cryo Heap
Edition of 5 signed and numbered
Ink jet printing, laser-cut wood and graph paper, anodized aluminum, casters, rubber, hardware
Published at Xerox PARC Residency, Palo Alto CA
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
Three laser-shaped accordion booklets, bound into rubber covers, combine to create a human form nestled in a wooden gurney with an aluminum frame and a set of casters. The texts, integrated with the art, reference the marketing of cryogenics.
When Mammoths Roamed the Earth I
Edition of 3 signed and numbered
Ink jet printing, aluminum, casters, hardware
Published at Xerox PARC Residency, Palo Alto CA
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
A mobile sculptural book with a fold-out accordion speculating on reviving cryogenically preserved life forms in the future.
When Mammoths Roamed the Earth II
Edition of 3 signed and numbered
Ink jet printing, vellum, anodized aluminum, red rubber, hardware
Published at Xerox PARC Residency, Palo Alto CA
Photos: Douglas Sandberg
WMRTE II is inspired by Antarctica’s Lake Vostok whose active organisms, having been isolated from the rest of the world for up to 15 million years, have undergone independent courses of evolution unlike other life forms on Earth.
Vishnu Crew Stews Vindaloo Anew
Brahmin edition of 74, Shiva edition lettered a-z
Signed and numbered
Letterpress printing, Khadi jute handmade paper, aluminum, hardware, felt-padded steel film cannister
Published by Purgatory Pie Press, NYC
A sculptural embodiment of images inspired by travels in India, Vishnu Crew consists of four aluminum-cover booklets, die-cut as various head profiles, attached by screw and nut "eyes" to a perforated aluminum disk. The disk rotates, lining the heads up to a hinged aluminum body that swings out from under the circular structure. Unscrewed and detached, the heads open accordion-style to reveal poems and illustrations within. Issued in a round steel film canister, padded inside with gray felt.
Laocoön and the Double Helix
Edition of 150, signed and numbered
Letterpress printing on Waxed Masa, neoprene cover, neoprene figures, plastic ZipLoc sleeve.
Published by Purgatory Pie Press, NYC
Greek myth meets modern science in an accordion fold-out book printed from neoprene plates. Text: "Double DNA Drama Loops Laocoön's Hellenic Hybrid Helix."