Course of the Knife, the: Il Corso del Coltello (SIGNED by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen)

OLDENBURG, Claes / Coosje Van Bruggen / Germano Celant: Essay

ISBN 10: 084780822X / ISBN 13: 9780847808229

Published by Milan Electa 1986., 1986

About this Item

This copy is boldly hand SIGNED in full across the title page by both Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen; with essay by Germanoo Celant; the trade edition of this book is limited 2,500 clothbound copies; published by Electa Milan 1986; with numerous b&w and color illustrations; softcovers with paper wrappers, pp 237; the removable fold-out dustjacket is printed by offset lithograph in four colors measures: 27 x 11in. (28x21.5cm) which is nice for framing; edition size is unknown; sewn bound and offset printed; the book with Bibliography. Documents the history of Il Corso del Coltello (The Course of the Knife), a monumental multimedia performance created by sculptor Claes Oldenburg, writer/curator Coosje van Bruggen, and architect Frank O. Gehry, and performed in Venice in 1985; SYNOPSIS: "An 83-foot Swiss Army knife cruising the Venetian lagoon? In 1985, sculptor Claes Oldenburg, L.A. architect Frank Gehry, and writer Coosje van Bruggen joined forces for an "architectural performance" interweaving an army of characters dressed as objects in a scenario too complicated to summarize. Il Corso del Coltello lovingly documents this urban theatrical from the earliest notes through performance photographs. The event preaching the new architectural order in the shadow of Venetian Renaissance buildings clearly was fun for spectators and performers alike." (Reference: Annette Melville, Research Libraries Group, Stanford, CA; Library Journal, 1987.); book is tight; with just few tiny nicks at the top of the spine of the illustrated wrappers, some kind of mechical mark on first title page, and there are a few small dents in the last pages of the Bibliograph's text in rear of book; otherwise in VERY GOOD COND.

Seller Inventory # 4958

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Course of the Knife, the: Il Corso del Coltello (SIGNED by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje Van Bruggen)
• Publisher: Milan Electa 1986.
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 084780822X
• ISBN 13: 9780847808229
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Signed by Author(s)
• Seller catalogs:
  • CONTEMPORARY AND MODERN PRINTS

About this title

Synopsis

Book by Celant, Germano

Reviews

A 78-foot ship in the form of a Swiss army knife plies a canal in Venice, its blades unfurled; Lord Styrofoam and Georgia Sandbag embark on a romantic gondola voyage, while cream-of-cork soup is served at a bohemian cafe, and a lion statue sings from Verdi's Otello. These strange goings-on took place at a performance/art spectacle concocted by Oldenburg with California architect Gehry and writer van Bruggen. The Knife, which made its maiden voyage in Venice in 1985, was reconstructed for an exhibition at New York's Guggenheim Museum. Celant, who produced the event, describes it as a "mysterious and magical world" full of mythic and ritualistic associations, but readers will decide whether Oldenburg et al. "redeem the banal" or perpetuate it. From rehearsals to characters crashing into one another, the book captures the whole shebang.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An 83-foot Swiss Army knife cruising the Venetian lagoon? In 1985, sculptor Claes Oldenburg, L.A. architect Frank Gehry, and writer Coosje van Bruggen joined forces for an "architectural performance" interweaving an army of characters dressed as objects in a scenario too complicated to summarize. Il Corso del Coltello lovingly documents this urban theatrical from the earliest notes through performance photographs. The eventpreaching the new architectural order in the shadow of Venetian Renaissance buildingsclearly was fun for spectators and performers alike. Recommended for specialized collections. Annette Melville, Research Libraries Group, Stanford, Cal.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.