AMBruno
Book Act
The Tetley, Leeds

Book Act was a new project by AMBruno, initiated by Sophie Loss, in which artist book-makers performed and embodied the concept or essence of their books through the medium of film or performance. The exhibition at The Tetley, Leeds, comprised the originating books and corresponding video work, with live performances on Sunday 9 March 2014. Book Act took place during the 17th International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair (7th to 9th March) and the exhibition continued until 26th March 2014.

Book Act included eleven films.

In addition, Book Act Live consisted of five live performances on 9th March 2014.

Book Act: The eleven films were:

Louise Atkinson - Mouth Scroll Mouth Scroll consists of video of the artist pulling a scroll out of her mouth. By creating the spoken word as a visible stream of paper, the work suggests the tensions between writing and speaking, whilst the continuous nature of the work also alludes to magic tricks and religious texts. 3 minutes 12 seconds.

Karen Blake - void-ances mown circle: earth Blake chose a landscape and, using digital mapping and mark-making, 'drew' three round blots within it. The film records one part of this cheerful but flawed experiment in void-ance, mown circle: earth. 4 minutes 29 seconds.
Originating book: Karen Blake, void-ances (2012). Digitally printed. 210 x 118mm. Edition of 5.

Manya Doñaque - endless lists For this performed book I have collected in the form of a continuous Mobius strip, images that echo the endless lists I carry out on a daily basis in my different roles as a student, lecturer, artist and as a person. 5 minutes.
Originating book: Manya Doñaque, endless lists (2014)
The structure of the book is a Mobius strip, with the images printed and glued individually. Edition of 3. £15. Digital Print and DVD.

Kathryn Faulkner - Everything changes A concertina book that uses 12 photographs from the film. It is intended to be presented as a circular standing structure, echoing the spinning motion of the film. 60 seconds.

Judy Goldhill - Contingencies of light : sun body I have re-imagined the image of Detrick and his body shaped by light with a dancer performing a sequence of moves to create a corporeal mediation of the light beams and dust of the sun and the moon; which were already embodied in the original photographic image. 2 minutes 30 seconds.
Originating book: Judy Goldhill, Contingencies of Light (2012)

Jane Grisewood - Mourning Lines Mourning Lines consisted of one walk marked by trailing ash, followed by a series of drawings made each morning during one week in summer 2005 while repeating the walk along a track between home and the village burial ground in Suffolk. 9 minutes 42 seconds.
Originating book: Jane Grisewood, Mourning Lines (2010). 18-page concertina format. 15 x 11 cm. Sequence of 7 graphite drawings of the walks.

Sharon Kivland - Nana Vit Sa Vie A description of Nana's dance, performed by Anna Karina, from Vivre sa vie by Jean-Luc Godard, observed, remembered, and on occasion, danced, by Sharon Kivland, to the accompaniment of Swing Swing Swing by Michel Legrand. 3 minutes 7 seconds.
Originating book: Sharon Kivland, Nana vit sa vie, Ma bibliothèque (2014). ISBN 978 1 910055 01 4. Edition of 50, each signed and numbered. Softback, stapled/sewn. 105 x 150 mm. 16 pages.

Sophie Loss - Swinging Susan Red Why do most books require reading from side to side and back, side to side and back? What unnecessary distance for the eyes to cover - Swinging Susan, a one-page book proposes an alternative, circular reading. My video Swinging Susan Red confirms this by suggesting that there is more fun to be had in circles than lines. 53 seconds.
Originating book: Sophie Loss, Swinging Susan (2010). 21 x 10cm. Edition of 150. Digital print. Single card in wrap-round cover.

Valérie Mary - Digression: Au bord de l'eau (video) and Turbulence (book) A digression is an act that departs temporarily from a track or from the main. Turbulence and Au bord de l'eau explore this notion on a visual level. For both, the track is a linear path from which, at some point, the body needs to escape, to offer a playful intermission. Video: 2 minutes.
Originating book: Valérie Mary, Turbulence (2013). Edition of 15. Digitally printed. Soft cover. 24 pages.

Anne Rook - Apple Story The animation video plays with the idea of 'designer apples'. 3 minutes 30 seconds.
Originating book: Anne Rook, Apple Labels 1999-2010, A Repertory (2010)
A diary of collecting fruit labels, it is transformed in the film by means of repetition and accumulation into a comment on globalization of the food industry.
Inkjet prints on heavyweight drawing paper. Soft cover. 12 pages, glued and sewn binding. 21 x 14.8 cm.

Cally Trench and Philip Lee - Sixteen Dada Heads Our book Sixteen Dada Heads is inspired by well-known Dada works of art. The film is fast, furious and absurd: very Dada! 10 minutes 15 seconds.
Originating book: Cally Trench and Philip Lee, 16 Dada Heads (2013). Digital prints on watercolour paper with collage and drawing. First edition of 16.

Book Act Live : The five live performances on 9th March 2014 were:

Anne Rook - Apple Story (2014) A consumer's reaction to 'designer apples' is the subject of the performance.

Karen Babayan - Lolo's Story - August 1941, Tehran, Iran (2014) from the book Blood Oranges Dipped in Salt by Karen Babayan, Wild Pansy Press 2012. Performers were Persia Babayan-Taylor as Lolo and Karen Babayan as Clara and Uncle George.

Jane Grisewood - Mourning Lines (2014) 30-minute drawing performance. Charcoal on paper, 500 x 75 cm.

Marco Calí - Mobius Strip (2014)

Cally Trench and Philip Lee - Sixteen Dada Heads (2014) In the performance, we attempted to recreate the images in the book and film three times, with ever-increasing speed and chaos.