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I Never Read

Me neither.

I know that art can be worth a thousand words, that one can feel the hours of work that went into selecting the right paper for a book and that, besides the knowledge contained, a book’s worth is also defined by the quality of work that went into binding and realizing it.

The I Never Read Art Book Fair Basel was quite the right place for discovering this kind of special books. There were some amazing art projects on display there and I’d love to share some which particularly caught my eye with you:

Black print on black paper: as crazy as it sounds
There is a reason why certain culture differentiate between various shades of black or various tones of white. Because black is not black. And the project below really caught my eye, because it pushes these boundaries and introduces contrast where you wouldn’t expect it with the right choice of paper and ink. It’s just gorgeous!

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3000m: what happens when you take a pencil and draw lines until the pencil is consumed
Martin Schwab – an Artist book binder based in Basel – took a pencil and started drawing lines on paper… 1.080 pages later, the pencil was consumed. Binding these pages with a stunning red an gold cover makes for a piece of art which could be the most exclusive notebook ever if you’d want to put it to practical use or juste a unique collectible.

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Along the Rhine: oh wait, that should have been printed on a scroll!
The Basel based independent publishing group 3rei5uenf6echs brought this leporello to Basel and although I stood in ave and admiration in front of the drawing and the quality of the book realized, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been amazing as a scroll as well. Definitely and inspiration for us!

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After all that looking and touching, I felt like I could take a rest in one of the lounge chairs scattered around in the courtyard of Kaserne Basel and finish up Kerouac’s “on the road – the original scroll” (yes, right, he wrote that one on a scroll! Imagine…) while snacking on Ricola sweets gently provided in incredible quantities by I Never Read’s main sponsor.

I Never Read. Unless I do.

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