Waste incant : words and images

Creator

Van Vliet, Claire

Date

• 2007

Publisher

Newark, Vermont: Janus Press

Summary

• COLOPHON: "resource for images - hampson, b l and evans, k c (1962) science from the beginning, edinburgh: oliver & boyd
• resource for text - hasan, syed (1996) geology and hazardous waste management, new jersey: prentice hall
• for more information search web - nuclear waste storage in plastic
• the plastics used in this book are the acrylic slipcase and illusion polycarbonate and flexible vinyl from rowland technologies in Connecticut; the papers are barcham green cambers and cairo from hayle mill in england - computer preparation by ellen dorn levitt with printing by andrew miller-brown and binding executed by audrey holden. this edition limited to one hundred and fifty copies of which this is for The Kohler Art Library."
• Johanknecht's response to the storage of nuclear waste in plastics. This book is sequel to Johanknecht's Hermetic Waste (about Chernobyl), published in 1986.
• Artist's statement: "The format and materials of this book reference Hermetic Waste (Gefn Press, 1986) which was completed the summer following the Chernobyl disaster. The collagraph prints in Hermetic Waste were derived from alchemical engravings - here the calligraphic line drawings are derived from science illustrations in children's text books (Science from the Beginning edited by Hampson and Evans, 1962). Redrawn and merging, the pictorial 'facts' depict a disrupted 'nature.' Poetic texts sit inside the imagery, functioning as an integrated caption. They describe processes by which toxic material enters into the environment. The back of each page lists hazardous wastes. Plastic interleaving features in both books, referencing materials used in the storage of waste. (How little has changed in twenty years.) The book, in its acrylic case, is a statement about the storage of nuclear waste in plastic. The line drawings are derived from children's textbooks, redrawn to show a disrupted nature. The toxic wastes, listed partially alphabetically, are printed on both sides of the embossed paper, each page separated by a plastic sheet. The unstable and hence inappropriate and hazardous use of plastic to contain toxic waste is emphasized by the diverse deformations of each of the plastic sheets."
• Not signed by the artist.
• Unnumbered. Edition of 150.