COLLECTION NAME:
Artists' Book Collection
Record
Title:
Reliquary: A Collection of Objects from the Mojave Desert
Creator:
Schroeder, Keri Miki-Lani
Description:
Title from colophon. Edition of 25, signed and numbered by the artist. Artist's website: "Reliquary is a rolling box structure [with magnetic closure] composed of five shadow boxes housing artifacts found in the Mojave desert. The accompanying text on panels are letterpress printed and focused around loss, memory, and decay. Custom dies were designed for foil stamping on bookcloth covers, pairing each item with its 'sigil' counterpart." Vendor's website: "Reliquary memorializes forgotten objects found in the Mojave desert, with text centered around loss, memory, and decay. Questions asked in the text focus on where memory is held within objects and within our bodies, and do they erode at a similar rate? The rolling box structure reveals one compartment at a time, the items inside mirrored by their gold stamped 'sigils' on adjacent cloth. Items and sigils are arranged referencing trail markers and 'hobo code' to navigate the way. The last compartment holds a photograph of the area of the desert where the items were found, faded behind a fogged plexi frame. The gold foil sigils were developed referencing the shapes of the objects and objects were arranged with hobo code and alchemical symbols in mind. For example, the three nails are arranged to mimic the three lines hobo code symbol that marks an "unsafe place". The bottle cap references the symbols for sun, center, and gold. The symbol on the cover is a combination of all the gold foil symbols layered together. I chose to incorporate the symbols because of all the random signs I would see scratched into rocks or walls while exploring the desert. I tried to research the signs I saw but sometimes was unsure if they were secret code or just graffiti, old or new - either way it really added to the mystery and sense of danger in the desert."
Subject:
Alchemy
Subject:
Autobiographical memory in art
Subject:
Biodegradation
Subject:
Loss (Psychology)
Subject:
Reliquaries
Publisher:
Coyote Bones Press
Date:
2015
Coverage:
Mojave Desert
Coverage:
California
Language:
English
Type:
Still Image
Extent:
1 volume : color illustration ; 19 x 112 x 3 cm folded to 19 x 13 x 13 cm
Format/Medium:
Artists' books
Format/Medium:
Boxes (containers)
Format/Medium:
Clothbound books
Format/Medium:
Foil stamping
Format/Medium:
Found objects
Format/Medium:
Letterpress printing
Format/Medium:
Magnets
Format/Medium:
Nails (fasteners)
Format/Medium:
Shadow boxes
Source:
Reliquary: A Collection of Objects from the Mojave Desert, in Jen Library Archives and Special Collections, Savannah College of Art and Design.
Rights:
Copyright is retained by the authors or artists of items in this collection, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.
Identifier:
b18532330
Identifier:
i13859559
SCAD Location:
Jen Library (Savannah)
