Susan Grieger Bodies: more than 19,476 combinations, 1977
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Signed by the artist. 20 plates printed on both sides of 10 leaves of stiff, coated paper, and divided horizontally into 4 proportioned segments that can be combined in the manner of a split-page children's book (created since the 18th century, when they were known as "metamorphoses"). It is also reminiscent of audaciuos publications of the time, such as 'L'Erotoscope,' and related to the "exquisite corpse" invented by the Surrealists, in which participants each make a drawing on a single segment of a folded sheet of paper to produce an unexpected composition when extended into a continuous whole. White plastic spiral binding. 24.6 x 16.6 cm. Very fine.
The 10 participant models were people from the California artistic milieu: Kevin Cloud Brechner, artist; Nancy Angelo, artist; Hal Glicksman, curator; Linda Kent, curator, Allan Kaprow, artist and inventor of Happenings; Barbara Turner Smith, performance artist; Ransom Rideout, art technician; Cheri Gaulke, performance artist; George Herms, assemblage artist; and Jennifer Blue, dancer. Allan Kaprow regarded Bodies as a participatory, conceptual work closely related to his own.
There also exist a few, uncut versions of Bodies plus a life-size version with original photographs mounted on composite and covers of 4 x 6-foot painted masonite boards bound with handmade steel links. The large version weighs about 300 pounds and has been exhibited on specially made stands at the University of California, San Diego, in La Jolla (April-May 1977) and, with other works by the artist, at the Aarnum Gallery in Pasadena (October-November 1978). OCLC incorrectly supplies 1978 as the date of publication. Ms Singer believes she produced no more than 200 copies. Very scarce.