One Work: Sheila Hicks at the Mint is a unique collaboration between artist and designer that is decidedly forward thinking, but also carries with it a distinct sense of legacy. The volume is devoted to Hicks’ massive four-story work hanging in the atrium of Mint Museum Uptown, Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have This Dance?), which the Dutch designer Irma Boom has translated into book form. Boom has previously spoken of the book as an essential form, and the unrelenting vitality of her ethos is self-evident.
Internationally renowned Amsterdam-based designer Boom, who won the 2007 Gold medal at the Leipzig Book fair for her previous collaboration with Hicks, Weaving as Metaphor, has now created One Work with a similarly stunning level of precision. The book’s Leporello form contains two pull-out folds with images from Mega Footprint and a hanging hook embedded into the cover, enabling readers to hang the book on their own walls, metamorphosing it into an installation. Boom has borrowed more than a name from Don Giovanni’s manservant Leporello, she also shares his exhaustive attention to detail. The designer has continued the practise of producing her books in miniature, as if to prove that her art is equally effective when freed from the demands of proportion.
“In the field of art history it is rare to find publications dedicated to one singular work of art; books about iconic contemporary works are rarer still,” said Dr. Kathleen Jameson, President and CEO of the Mint. “At a time when The Mint Museum strives to lead in collecting the most innovative art being made in the world today, we are thrilled to celebrate Sheila Hicks’s Mega Footprint Near the Hutch (May I Have this Dance?) as a signature work of art for this institution.”
It is unusual to find artist and designer in such rare harmony. The combined force of their efforts has ensured that One Work is both a compelling documentation of Hicks’ exhibition at the Mint, and a work of art in its own right.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnUJruLuBuQ]
One Work: Sheila Hicks at the Mint
Yale Books Site| New York Times article on Sheila Hicks | Irma Boom’s website | The Mint Museum
