Colophon: a thoroughbred golden calf 2003 ISBN 0-9543123-2-5
Signed limited edition of 250, each hand-finished by the artist.
12cm x 36 cm hardbound in green cloth, with colour endpapers.
56pp Greencoat Velvet 170 gsm recycled, set in Century Gothic.
Binding/embossing/gold by Peter Franklin.
During his Arts Council 'Year of the Artist' residency at the Eden Project,
Christopher Cook initiated a series of large experimental graphite works
exploring the prevailing research ethos, and a seperate sequence of small
studies referring to bio-diversity and growth. These studies have continued
since the residency, and in his artist's book A thoroughbred golden calf,
23 examples accompany a system-based poem which Cook began at the same time.
This text uses the alphabetical tags for DNA proteins (a t g & c) to
generate two parallel strands of 23 four-line stanzas which explore the
relation of genetics to corporate exploitation. Defying strictures of the
format, their tone is both ironic and yet anti-determinist. Hand-finishing
and embossing (each copy unique) complement this highly distinctive interpretation.
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