River Avon Book
Richard Long
British, born 1945
1979
An intimate artist’s book in which Richard Long stained each page with mud and water taken from the River Avon, aiming to carry the river’s physical presence into the object itself.
Opening it, you encounter deckled, sandy-brown pages marked by seepage, rivulets and lacy white filigree that read like a small, tactile map of currents and tides.
Aligned with land art and process-based practices, the work insists that place can be recorded as material residue—making the landscape visible through the direct use of its earth and water rather than through depiction.
Medium
Artist's book with thirty-four pages stained with mud and water from the River Avon
Dimensions
page (each): 5 7/8 x 5 1/8" (15 x 13 cm); overall: 6 5/16 x 5 1/2 x 1/2" (16 x 14 x 1.3 cm); case: 6 7/16 x 5 1/2 x 9/16" (16.4 x 14 x 1.5 cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Kynaston McShine
Accession
687.1981
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
