NOTE: I wish I grew up in the ‘70s, man. I was born just like a hair too late. I would be the best conceptual artist, ever. Really. Owing probably to the fact that, as a fetus, I gestated in 1977 — which was when switching to menthol was considered a good hedge against morning sickness — I have like a million crazy ideas for shit I could do. I could totally beat John Cage and his pals at their own game. Like: oho that’s cool, Nam June just cut your tie off after you got Merce Cunningham to have his girls dance around the Glass House to the sound of a blender you plugged into the stereo?* So what? I have a plan to have a whale give birth to Michael Bloomberg (the real one, not a fake) on the downtown F platform at West 4th Station, and I did that this morning before I finished my granola. So like for example. The main thing, as all you 70s champs know, is that as long as you pick something to work on that will look good when it winds up in a Phaidon book, then that is it right there, you’re golden. Take Mr. Matta-Clark here. It’s one thing to chainsaw a house (which is something I have actually done) but it’s another matter entirely to get what is left over into the Whitney (which I haven’t tried and I can guess what they’d say, considering what they thought of my portfolio). Anyway. I am rambling but check out the books’ exposed chipboard binding and visible smythe-stitch construction. I can honestly say that they have done the mans’ work a great service with their bookwork gesture, which is particularly inspiring if you’re a designer or a 70s conceptual artist. * This actually happened, more or less; it’s two events conflated but I wouldn’t lie. I didn’t even mention how the cops almost busted Cage for shattering many of New Canaan’s finest eardrums but Philip Johnson distracted them [the police, not the eardrums] so Cage could scram. In all seriousness, how can you not totally love that stuff? My mom danced with Merce in the 70s so yeah I’m a fan!

TAGS: architecture, art, clark, conceptualtiein, exposedbinding, goodphotography, hardcover, mattaclark, and phaidon.

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... little shoutouts of that sort always warm my heart — but no yeah I am happy to see you here regardless, tho, srsly. Also, if you like Gordon Matta-Clark, you can also explicitly say so via Facebook: