GRIFFIN, Brian. Open. [London: Black Pudding / self-published, 1986]. ONE OF 25 COPIES WITH A PRINT


£275.00



ONE OF 25 COPIES WITH A PRINT

GRIFFIN, Brian.
Open.
[London: Black Pudding / self-published, 1986].

4to (256 x 229 mm), pp.[92]. 21 black-and-white photographs with tissue gauards, pages unopened as issued. Marbled endpapers. Yellow quarter cloth, uncovered boards. Signed and numbered by Griffin in black ink to upper side. Signed and numbered 10 x 8 " gelatin silver print laid in. Wrapped translucent paper, printed information sheet, housed in a modern grey paper-covered board box, numbered in pencil to lower side. Fine.

First edition, one of 25 issued with a print of 90 recently rediscovered copies from an original edition of 350. Griffin made Open shortly after the deaths of both his father, and his close friend Barney Bubbles, he conceived this book as a memorial to them both. The pages are intentionally left unopened so that the viewer has to cut them to view the pages. 'You have to open the book to get to heaven, but opening it ... destroys it. The book is a metaphor for life, the further we get into it, the more knowledge we gain, but the closer we are to the final end and its closure' (The Photobook). 5 copies of the original in OCLC: University of Arizona, Tuscon; London Metropolitan University; National Gallery of Australia Research Library; Le Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia; German National Library, Frankfurt am Main. No copy in the British Library.

The Photobook: A History vol.II p.68 [mistakenly dated 1988]

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