A Field Guide To Weeds

On my recent visit to New York, I made a special subway stop just to visit Printed Matter, Manhattan's famous self-published artist's bookstore and exhibition space. While there selection was impressive, the store was simply way to chock full of books. Thousands and thousands of books, on edge, most without printed spines (saddle-stitched), arranged alphabetically. While this may be great if you are looking for something specific, it was a nightmare to browse through. Add to this the classic "7 employees all to busy to acknowledge there is a customer" thing and I didn't stay very long.

But thank goodness I was there long enough to notice A Field Guide To Weeds, a new books from installation artist Kim Beck (published by Printed Matter). What appears to be a 19th-century pocket guide to weeds themselves (with embossed canvas cover and bound ribbon bookmark) is slowly taken over. Upon the blank pages various weeds (dandelion, pigweed, and poison ivy) spawn, grow, and multiply until, towards the final few pages, they have completely consumed each spread.

If this book were presented as, say, an animated flip-book, I wouldn't give it a second look. But the lush, 5-color printing (which involves both flat and overlapped-printing designs) and rounded page corners make this publication something magical. Slowly flipping through this publication is an immersive experience in wild natural growth told through book form. This book is a companion to a recent series of nationwide Kim Beck installations where weeds made of vinyl signs and paint grow on gallery walls, floors, and windows throughout the exhibition. I can say that A Field Guide To Weeds is the closest replication of an installation experience in printed form I have ever encountered.

Hopefully we'll get this book at Rowan Morrison soon, but in the meanwhile you can purchase it through the Printed Matter website for $25. You can check out images of Kim Beck's "Weeds" installations (plus lots of other work) at idealcities.com.