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Patterson, Christian : Bottom Of The Lake

Walter Koenig Books, Berlin, Germany, 2015

ISBN 3863357701

First Edition / First Printing. As New in No Dust Jacket, As Issued. 256 pages. Artist Book. One of the most brilliantly innovative photography books of our time. Advance Signed Copy of the First Edition. The book was commercially released/distributed on October 27, 2015. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions. Published in a small and limited first print run as a softcover original only. The First Edition is now scarce. A brilliant production by Christian Patterson: Oversize-volume format. Exact facsimile of the Wisconsin town Fond du lac's ("Bottom of The Lake") telephone book circa 1973. Photographs and art by Christian Patterson. Printed on archival stock paper in Berlin, Germany to the highest standards. Without DJ, as issued. Presents Christian Patterson's "Bottom of The Lake". An interactive audio-visual presentation that gives a whole new spin to "documentary", "photography", and "subjectivity". It begins with the 256-page exact facsimile of artist/photographer's telephone book for his hometown, Fond du Lac ("Bottom of The Lake"), Wisconsin. Originally published in 1973, right after his birth, Patterson reproduces (through stunning digital-scan printing) a well-worn, soiled, creased, marked, and stained "used copy" of it down to the tiniest detail. It is a stunning idea in and of itself, upending collectors' severe OCD-level issues with regard to a book's condition. The Artist Book consists of found markings and reproductions of materials inserted in the phone book: Patterson's own drawings, photographs, and evocative marginalia. The book-within-a-book is deliberately jarring (rather than seamless), combining the fact-based phone book with the artist's photo book, a highly subjective re-imagination of his hometown, playfully juxtaposing different documentary forms and ways of seeing. The result is an inescapably nostalgic, deeply personal, and darkly humorous masterpiece. The experience of viewing "Bottom of The Lake" is then further extended through an interactive feature that cleverly plays on the phone book concept: A telephone number attached to the Artist Book connects viewers-turned-listeners to 100 audio experiences: Field recordings, found archival material, and recorded performances that recreate the artist's hometown. This aural "feedback loop" deepens and enhances, but doesn't supplant, our visual experience of his beloved birthplace. After the sensational "Redheaded Peckerwood", more than four years ago (2011), one wondered what Patterson's challenging follow-up would be. Here it is. An absolute "must-have" title for Christian Patterson collectors. This Advance Signed Copy is very prominently and beautifully signed in black pen-marker at the Back Page (beside his vintage childhood portrait) by Christian Patterson. It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. This title is a contemporary photography classic. This is one of few such signed copies of the First Edition/First Printing available online and as produced (all of the phone book's "flaws" are digitally printed and scanned, NOT actual), is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright, a pristine beauty. A rare signed copy thus. 65 color plates. Christian Patterson's "Redheaded Peckerwood" is widely regarded as one of the seminal photography books of our time. One of the most brilliant artist/photographers of our time. A fine collectible copy. (SEE ALSO OTHER CHRISTIAN PATTERSON TITLE IN OUR CATALOG). ISBN 3863357701.

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