Cumbrian Alchemy
Robert Williams and Bryan McGovern Wilson
Published by UniPress | University of Cumbria, 2013
Edited by Robert Williams
Photography by Robert Williams, Bryan McGovern Wilson and Sam Knight
Designed by James Brook
ISBN 978 1 869979 39 3
96 pages with soft cover | 210 x 245 mm | Edition 1,000
Printed by Allander, Edinburgh, on Revive 100 recycled paper
From the Introduction by Robert Williams:
Our final collaborator lies hidden within an object. Rather like Dr. Farrar of Orton, this most hermetic of our alchemists is concealed amongst the arrangements of text, image and page of what might be thought of variously as a field guide, a grimoire, a text-book, a narrative, a mythos, tractate or treatise. It may be considered unusual or unconventional to include our book designer as a major contributor to the project. However, James Brook’s role is pivotal in helping to both frame and contextualise this aspect of the project and the relationship that it has to each of its elements: the artwork, the research material, the discourse and its audience. We are grateful that a designer so renowned who is familiar with and sensitive to the needs of artists has added his voice to the discourse. He has compiled a fitting contextual frame for the project as a whole, one that can exist beyond the exhibition, as a separate but related entity.
Our final collaborator lies hidden within an object. Rather like Dr. Farrar of Orton, this most hermetic of our alchemists is concealed amongst the arrangements of text, image and page of what might be thought of variously as a field guide, a grimoire, a text-book, a narrative, a mythos, tractate or treatise. It may be considered unusual or unconventional to include our book designer as a major contributor to the project. However, James Brook’s role is pivotal in helping to both frame and contextualise this aspect of the project and the relationship that it has to each of its elements: the artwork, the research material, the discourse and its audience. We are grateful that a designer so renowned who is familiar with and sensitive to the needs of artists has added his voice to the discourse. He has compiled a fitting contextual frame for the project as a whole, one that can exist beyond the exhibition, as a separate but related entity.