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APERTURE
Robert Cumming: The Difficulties of Nonsense
Edited with text by Sarah Bay Gachot. Interview by David Campany.
In the 1970s, from his base in Los Angeles, artist Robert Cumming (born 1943) made functional-looking but ultimately useless constructions, created primarily to be photographed with his 8x10 camera. Playing with props, proportions, unusual angles, light and mirrors, Cumming invited viewers to look in--and then to look again, second-guessing what they saw. The Difficulties of Nonsense is the first comprehensive publication to survey Cumming’s significant series of conceptual black-and-white and color photographs from the 1970s, now a touchstone for contemporary artists, and focus on the artist’s fascination with illusion and trickery. With an essay by Sarah Bay Gachot and an interview by David Campany, this monograph pays homage to a time when Cumming, and many in the photographic community, worked to playfully push the boundaries of photography and narrative.
"Quick Shift of the Head Leaves Glowing Stool Afterimage Posited on the Pedestal" (1978) is reproduced from Robert Cumming: The Difficulties of Nonsense.
FORMAT: Hbk, 9 x 10.5 in. / 180 pgs / 50 color / 100 duotone. LIST PRICE: U.S. $65.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $85 ISBN: 9781597113007 PUBLISHER: Aperture AVAILABLE: 5/24/2016 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: No longer our product AVAILABILITY: Not Available
Published by Aperture. Edited with text by Sarah Bay Gachot. Interview by David Campany.
In the 1970s, from his base in Los Angeles, artist Robert Cumming (born 1943) made functional-looking but ultimately useless constructions, created primarily to be photographed with his 8x10 camera. Playing with props, proportions, unusual angles, light and mirrors, Cumming invited viewers to look in--and then to look again, second-guessing what they saw. The Difficulties of Nonsense is the first comprehensive publication to survey Cumming’s significant series of conceptual black-and-white and color photographs from the 1970s, now a touchstone for contemporary artists, and focus on the artist’s fascination with illusion and trickery. With an essay by Sarah Bay Gachot and an interview by David Campany, this monograph pays homage to a time when Cumming, and many in the photographic community, worked to playfully push the boundaries of photography and narrative.
