Modern Art Monday Presents: Lucas Samaras, Book 4

Lucas Samaras Book 4
Book 4, 1962: Book with Pins, Table Knife, Scissors, Razor Blade, Metal Foil, Piece of Glass and Plastic Rod (All Photos By Gail)

From MOMA Dot Org:

In 1960 Samaras began a series of Surrealist-inspired boxes filled with personal materials that he encrusted in needles, mirrors, shards of glass, and brightly colored beads. The boxes were followed by room–sized installations and subversive Polaroid self–portraits. Like Samaras’s boxes, Book is a multifaceted object and a miniature world in itself. Although it includes eight fictional narratives written by the artist between 1959 and 1967, it is not a storybook. Each thick amoeba–shaped page contains surprises, such as pop–ups, pockets, interlocking layers, foldouts, and hidden pamphlets. Samaras’s working maquette (scale model) for Book offers a glimpse of the handcrafted origin of this sculptural book.

Book 4 is part of the permanent collection at NYC’s Museum of Modern Art.

Lucas Samaras Book 4

Lucas Samaras Book 4

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