bókumbók

book about book and more (EN) /; bók um bók og fleira (IS) | Artists: Ari Kristinsson, Daði Guðbjörnsson, Eggert Ólafur Einarsson, Haraldur Ingi Haraldsson, Hulda Björg Ágústsdóttir, Hulda Margrét Hákonardóttir, Hörður Bragason, Kristján Steingrímur Jónsson, Magnús Pálsson, Ómar Stefánsson and Pétur Magnússon.

bók um bók was first published in 1980 as a product of an art-course led by Magnús Pálsson. Republished by Útúrdúr in 2012. The cover is separately produced in silk printing with each cover in individual semblance.

The art-book is a product from an artists discussion about the phenomenon “book” and its characteristic nature. This is probably the only book in Iceland that discourses entirely upon itself. Multi-choice examinations are made among other things in the attempt to grasp some sort of definition of a book...or for a solid understanding of the book’s purpose. The results pointed to this: A book is; 80% book and 20% cow.

Speculations found in bók um bók; “The spine is an axis that keeps pages together. A page is a moveable surface. Information is the knowledge an object provides on something different from its own form, state or nature. Browseability. Transferability is the ability to move an item out of place without dismantling it.” So... bók um bók could be described as a fairly significant book or even a dangerous one since it addresses its own existence, general discussions and the ideology between the artists.

4 identical sequences of pages consisting of 7 coloured paper sheets, each colour sequence is preceded by a semi-transparent page with the names of the colours in a different language (Finnish, Icelandic, English, and Turkish), dedicated in French to K.G.’s friend Birgir Andrésson.

Spiral bound, 30 x 22 cm, 42 not numbered pages, Reykjavík

norwegian:

Ingen slipper unna Titivillus. Hun lever i alle verdens trykkerier og skrivestuer, forårsaker og samler på feil som hun så tar med ned til djevelen. Korrekturleseren er Titivillus’ verste fiende, men hun er jo bare et menneske, feilbarlig uansett hvor nøyaktig hun tror hun leser seg gjennom tekstene. Alltid sniker det seg inn en feil. Korrekturtegnene er hennes verktøy, sammen danner de et symbolspråk kun for å peke på feil, likevel finnes det en omsorg der: i det samme feilen påpekes, foreslås også en løsning. Jeg lsurver noe fælt når jeg skriver på tastaru og rpinter alltid feil.

Publikasjon, 2025. Kunsthøgksolen i Oslo.

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english:

No one can escape the clutches of Titivillus: she inhabits all printing houses and writing desks of the world, causing and collecting errors to bring down to the devil. The proofreader is Titivillus’ worst enemy, but she’s only human, fallible no matter how accurate she believes herself to be in reading through the texts. An error always sneaks in. The proofreading marks are her tools, a symbolic language just for pointing out errors. Still it is a caring language: when an error is pointed out, a solution is simultaneously suggested. I’m terrbily slpopy when typing on the keybord and rpiningt.

Publication, 2025. Oslo Natoinal Academy of the Arts

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made by our very own Saralinnn Hembre !!

Published by Kling & Bang artist-run space with the exhibition Tears, 2021

Works by:

Anne Carson

Halla Birgisdóttir

Margrét Dúadóttir Landmark

Ragnar Kjartansson

Text by Anne Carson

Translated by Ingibjörg Sigurjónsdóttir

Design:

Katla Rós and Ragnar Már

First edition

3/10

Signed

Exhibition Journal for Desire Paths

Notes, dreams, pictures

Spiral bound

Riso prints