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An Anecdoted Topography of Chance (Atlas Arkhive)
An Anecdoted Topography of Chance - Atlas Arkhive Author:Robert Filliou, Dieter Roth An Anecdoted Topography of Chance is arguably the most important and entertaining "Artists Book" of the post-war period. This edition is the definitive appearance to date of a unique collaborative work by four artists associated with the FLUXUS and Noveau Réalisme movements, and is substantially larger than the three previous versions... more » published in France, the USA and Germany. What is the Topography? Hard to explain an idea so simple yet so brilliantly executed. Following a rambling conversation with his dear friend Robert Filliou, Daniel Spoerri one day mapped the objects lying at random on the table of his room, adding a rigorously scientific decription of each. These objects subsequently evoked associations, memories, anecdotes; not only from the original author, but from his friends as well: a beguiling creation was born. Many of the principal participants of FLUXUS make an appearance (and texts by Higgins, Jouffroy, Kaprow, Restany, and Tinguely are included, among others). It is a novel of digressions in the manner of Tristram Shandy or Robbe-Grillet; its a game, a poem, an encyclopaedia, a cabinet of wonders: a celebration of friendship and creativity. The Topography personifies (and pre-dates) the whole FLUXUS spirit and constitutes one of the strangest and most compelling insights into the artists life. From out of the banal detritus of the everyday a virtual autobiography emerges: of four perceptive, witty and eloquent members of the human species. The map of the table-top has been reproduced as a fold-out at the back of the book.« less