Carolee Schneemann, ABC- We Print Anything - In The Cards

Beuningen (NL), Brummense Uitgeverij Van Luxe Werkjes, 1977. First edition. Handmade blue cloth box, 11 x 30.5 x 5 cm, featuring a gold-stamped title, tied with a ribbon. Contains 156 printed index cards of various colours, each text card accompanied by an image card. The work documents the turbulent relationship between the artist, her soon-to-be-ex Anthony McCall and her new lover Bruce McPherson.

Intended as a multimedia performance piece, Schneemann read the cards aloud to an audience while images were projected on a screen behind her. The performance was staged at Franklin Furnace in New York, in November 1976, followed by a series of performances at De Appel in Amsterdam in 1977. As usual with this multiple it has some mixed up cards, as the publisher was rather careless about filling the boxes. This copy has 1 double text card (36), and 2 missing text cards (102 and 120). Officially made in an edition of 151, though less copies were actually assembled. Box and ribbon show slight fading, indexcards are mint. Extremely rare.