Granary Books is pleased to announce the publication of a new limited-edition artists' book, Ghost Coast: A Hurricane Sandy Periplus of Lower Manhattan, by the artist Julie Harrison and the poet E.J. McAdams.
To celebrate, join us for the book launch on April 29th at 7pm, with Brooklyn Public Library Presents and the Lower East Side Ecology Center.
"We turned to deep ecology with the production ethos of this book, assessing each step for sustainability in both materials and practices. This attentiveness was a source of sanctuary for us during these tumultuous times, reminding us that small actions and intention do matter, especially when brought to life among community."
9 x 12 in. cloth-covered clamshell box with oxblood cloth lining, containing accordion-fold book printed digitally in cloth over boards and stamped with bronze foil.
This artists' book features a multi-panel 45 in. artwork by Julie Harrison of Manhattan's coastline as impacted by Hurricane Sandy, accompanied by a poem comprised entirely of verbs describing water movement by E.J. McAdams.
From the poet and artist's statement:
"The current boundary of Manhattan is a smooth line of armored coast with a few piers left over from a more industrial waterfront. On October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy pummeled New York City, damaging infrastructure, thrusting downtown residents into a blackout, and redrawing the coast of lower Manhattan. This new coast corresponded to the contours of earlier maps before the addition of infill for development, and it introduced aberrant inundations almost a mile inland across the channelized hardscape of the city. GHOST COAST juxtaposes the current and catastrophic coasts, illuminating resonances between and across both. A periplus was a tool for nautical navigation in the ancient world, describing in words the details of the coast including landmarks in harbors, treacherous obstacles below the surface of the water, and reports about the people on land and what they traded. The text of GHOST COAST is a periplus made only of verbs, and therefore of questionable use; the verb agreement is as off-kilter as the ravaged coast. GHOST COAST is an experimental verbal and visual remembrance of the coastline reconfigured by Hurricane Sandy. It is also a warning that the precipitating condition of climate change that led to the flooding and accompanying loss of life has not yet been addressed adequately, and therefore haunts the surfaces of these now dry streets."
This book was produced in an edition of 33 copies. It was printed by Jason Walz at Uncommonbindery on Hahnemühle Agave paper, and accordion-bound in EcoJeans fabric over boards in a cloth-lined clamshell case by John DeMerritt and Emmalee Johnson-Kao at DeMerritt Studios. The text is set in Ryman Eco, an ink-saving typeface designed by Ryman in the United Kingdom. The layout of the poem was designed by Julie Harrison; Kevin Noble photographed Harrison's drawings; and Jason Walz designed the translucent endpapers. M.C. Kinniburgh managed the book's design and production, which was assessed for sustainability at each step.
A portion of the proceeds of this book have been donated to the Lower East Side Ecology Center.