ART BOOK - (Handmade Publication), Limited edition

by Simone Philippou

Τhe limited edition publication πίτουρα- πούπουλα is a visual manual inspired from the complete series of Bruno Schultz short stories "The Street of Crocodiles".

The frightfully rich world which the writer creates is fascinating. When reading the book,  one is lost in a magical world of cinnamon, and birds that roam at every turn of the complex narrative, which focuses around the author's relationship with his father.

Schultz is a peculiar animal, he writes, while thinking like a painter. He uses his father's character as a guide, making references to a book of cosmogony, filled with questions he often wants to present to his readers, and ones he is content with just verbalizing. He has a lot to share and does not feel the need to limit himself and lose time in providing answers for every detail.

The restless character of the book has innumerable mental notes, which are sometimes aligned in time or subject matter, and in other cases they have such a strong leadership role in their composition, which forces them into entirely new subcategories, as independent memos.

This limited edition Art Book was designed, illustrated, screen-printed and bound into an edition of 8. One for each Theater Performance "Δρόμοι Κροκοδείλων" of the Cyprus Theater Organisation (ΘΟΚ) led by the artistic direction of Melita Couta and Harris Kafkarides.

The Art Book, serves as the Artist Simone Philippou's interpretation to 'The Book'  which is mentioned numerous times by the author Bruno Schultz in his novel "The Street of Crocodiles".

The Art Book aims to interact with the Theater's visitors by asking them to engage with it. The Artwork invites the viewer to flick through it's pages and moreover part with a piece of it..
Literally, the visitors were invited to - if they so much as please to - remove one of the book's perforated pages and take home an original hand-pulled silkscreen illustration by the Artist.

This interaction was was initiated in an effort to provide subtle connotations to the novel, however after the Theater's opening night; it gave birth to a whole new performance in itself. One formed by the visitors curiosity, desire and intimacy.

For more detail about the ΘΟΚ Theater Performances click here

For more press about the project click here: Parathyro Politis , Avant-Garde Press