How To Do The Flowers
Ruth van Beek
Dashwood Books
Co Published Art Paper Editions
English
Softcover
508 pages
155 x 210 mm
2018
ISBN 9789490800871
How To Do The Flowers draws upon the extensive archives of Ruth van Beek. The images from this archive are constantly conversing with one another: The repetition of images, visual sequences, accidental similarities and free associations form the alphabet of a mysterious language. A large part of the image archive finds its origin in old manuals and catalogues, books that are made as a tool, as an advisor for everyday occupations. They often include hands that demonstrate how something is supposed to be done. Hands that dig in the earth, that make dolls, that arrange flowers, that cook. All sorts of daily actions pass by. By focusing on the action and detaching from the original context, van Beek encourages imagination, thereby provoking un-comfortable and uneasy feelings: passive human hands become animated, objects become characters and abstract shapes come to life further enhanced through her intricate collages. Hundreds of images and tests from van Beek’s image archive come together. They show a methodology that in turn creates a manual for new work and an aesthetic that is entirely her own.
About the Artist
Ruth Van Beek, born in 1977, lives and works in Koog aan de Zaan, in the Netherlands.
ruthvanbeek.com
About the Publishers
Dashwood Books is a bookshop and publisher in New York City. It has become a destination for artists, collectors and art directors from all over the world as well as a valued source for the fashion, advertising and film industries, and anyone interested in artist’s books and monographs.
dashwoodbooks.com
APE (Art Paper Editions) is an independent publishing platform founded in 2010 by Jurgen Maelfeyt of Ghent-based design studio 6’56”. APE focusses on the book as an exhibition space and makes publications in close collaboration with artists, writers, institutions, galleries, and other cultural protagonists. Publications are crafted to the highest standard. Many of our publications are acquired by institutional libraries such as Moma, Centre Pompidou and Macba amongst others.
artpapereditions.org
