Multiple. Object.
“Book” bound on both vertical edges, the two volumes face to face. Full dark blue leather binding. Inside a marbelized cardboard slipcase. 18.5×11.7 cm. On the two spines, stars and title printed gold. Bianconero, Rome, 1969. Unspecified edition size.
In the age of DRM and the seemingly constant assault on “the book” from all corners it is a good time to revisit the book work of Italian artist Maurizio Nannucci.
It was 40 years ago when Maurizio Nannucci created Universum, a book art piece consisting of two volumes bound in blue leather and housed in a slipcase. The books are bound on both vertical edges creating two spines.
Is Nannucci protecting the book from the potential dangers of the outside world, or the reader from the potential danger of the content?
Nannucci’s work vaults the book to an impenetrable object; a closed universe. It is both a form of censorship and a form of worship.
Similar to the collector who buys a choice book but never opens it, Universum will live inside it slipcase and sit on the bookshelf while never providing full access to its contents.
A few years later
Exhibit at Art Metropole in 2004