Welcome and News

Welcome to my temporary blog/website which is replacing: www.ambeck.mdd.dk

My new website will be www.ambeckdesign.dk and will be ready later this year.

In the meantime please take a look here and browse through my February posts.

Up coming events 2011:

Book fairs:

BABE III – Bristol Artists' Books Event at Arnolfini Bristol, UK

April 30th 11am-6pm & May 1st 11am-5pm, 2011

www.arnolfini.org.uk / www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk

Entrance FREE

Doverodde Book Arts Festival III

Limfjordscentret Doverodde Købmandsgård, Hurup Thy, Denmark

June 3-5th, 2011

www.bookarts-doverodde.dk

Paid entrance

Recent events 2011:

14th International Contemporary Artists' Book Fair, Leeds

The Parkinson Building, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

March 11th 11am-6pm & 12th 10am-5pm, 2011

Artists' Books 2010

Steam, Salt, Milk – a nordic creation myth

(2010 edition) SOLD OUT

A remake of the unique book from 2000 of the same name now available in a limited edition of 10.

The book tells the story of how the world was created according to Nordic Mythology using inkjet-printed text and laser-cut illustrations and pop-ups.

Pages: 72 inkjet-printed and laser-cut by Tom Sowden, UWE Bristol.

Cover size: 20 x 20 cm – laser-engraved grey board

Comes in a grey slip-case and each copy will be signed & numbered.

Was launched at the London Art Book Fair 2010 where it won the Birgit Skiöld Award of Excellence.

At the Handmade & Bound Fair in London 2010 it was also awarded Best in Show 2nd prize.

In the public collection of The National Art Library at Victoria & Albert Museum, London, Manchester Metropolitan University Library All Saints, William Allan Neilson Library at Smith College Mass. USA, Winchester School of Art Library – and also held by international private collectors.

Steam, Salt, Milk and Day Return are both results of a four-day (July 5-8th, 2010) residency at the University of West England, Bristol, UK being part of Tom Sowden's AHRC founded project: 'Paper Models: Investigating laser cutting technology to develop new artists' books and paper-based creative practice for arts, craft and design.'

To read more about the project go to: http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/papermods11.htm here you can also find a detailed report by Tom Sowden on my residency at UWE: http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/laserdocs11/case%20studies/ambeckcs.pdf

(Below the laser at work.)

Day Return

A video-recorded return train journey to London transformed by laser-engraving into image poetry. This meter long concertina book comes in a hand-made grey board box numbered and signed.

Double-side laser engraved onto 280gsm Somerset Velvet Black paper by Tom Sowden, UWE Bristol.

Size: 18 x 100 cm

Edition of 10 – in a signed & numbered box.

In the public collection of Tate Collection, Manchester Metropolitan University Library All Saints, William Allan Neilson Library at Smith College Mass. USA, CFPR Collection at the University of West England, UK and University for the Creative Arts at Epsom, UK and also held by international private collectors.

(Below an example of the kind of train journey movie which the book is based on.)

U+2318

Created especially for Doverodde Book Arts Festival II and the exhibition: 'Place of Interest' at Limfjordscenteret Doverodde Købmandsgård, Hurup Thy, Denmark.

The book investigates the symbol: U+2318 also called the Place of Interest Sign.

Materials:

Cover: Daler-Rowney HeavyWeight 220gms.

Inside: Canford-Royal Blue 150gms, Daler-Rowney Cartridge 130gms, Perganeata 90gms.

Slip-case: Canford Card Royal Blue 300gms.

Size: 14.7x14.7cm

Edition 50

Date: May 2010

Exhibited at Limfjordscenteret Doverodde Købmandsgård, Hurup Thy, Denmark

May 14th – June 20th 2010.

&

GrafikGalleriet – Grønnegades Kaserne Kulturcenter, Næstved, Denmark.

August 14th – 29th 2010.

In the public collection of the Tate Collection, London and the Doverodde Book Arts Center collection, Denmark.

Artists' Books 2007

Equal to Infinity

‘What came first the strainer or the whisk?’

'Equal to Infinity' is 10 ordinary kitchen utensils which, combined, give life to a new robot.

Created especially for the Australian artists' book exhibition:'Books.07 – works of imagination – the search for the impossible', at Noosa Regional Gallery.

Materials: Munken Pure 11, 200gms & Canford, 150gms

Size: 21 x 14.9cm

Edition 10 – SOLD OUT

Date: July 2007

Exhibited at:

'Books 07 – works of imagination'

Noosa Regional Gallery

Pelican St. Tewantin, Australia

24th August - 30th September 2007

www.noosaregionalgallery.org

In private and public collections, such as: Manchester Metropolitan University All Saints Collection, Winchester School of Art Library, Special Collections at Leeds University and Doverodde Book Arts Center, Denmark.

Artists' Books 2006

Ambeck's Typographic Bestiary – A-Z, Volume I

A Robo-Girl Production alias Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck.

This Bestiary is an alphabetic account of 26 letterpress creatures, who came to life in the Central Saint Martins basement in 1998-99. They leapt off the proofing press and into the street around Southampton Row never to be seeing again until now.

A few of the original prints.

Cover size: 14.7 x 10.5 cm

54 pages – ink-jet printed, hand-stitched and glued with a soft cover. (2006)

Edition of 100, each copy signed & numbered.

ISBN 87-991309-0-4

In private and many public collections: the collection of CFPR, University of West England, Bristol and Leeds College of Art & Design Library, University College of the Creative Arts at Epsom Library, University of Southampton Libraries Winchester School of Art, Tate Collection, London and Smith College Library, Mass. USA.

Volume II is planned to be released by the end of 2012.

A mix of letterpress from my own collection.

10+

'10+' are 10 ordinary objects which, combined, make a distinctive and unusual new robot.

Created especially for the Australian artists' book exhibition:'Books.06 works of imagination 10+beyond', celebrating 10 years of artists' books at Noosa Regional Gallery, September 22- October 29, 2006.

Featured on the cover of Noosa Magazine, Australia. (September 15th 2006)

Photograph by Geoff Potter.

Edition 10 – SOLD OUT

Exhibited at:

'10+BEYOND' - Books.06

Noosa Regional Gallery

Pelican St. Tewantin, Australia

22nd Sept. - 22nd Oct. 2006

www.noosaregionalgallery.org

In private and public collections such as: Queensland State Library, Australia, Manchester Metropolitan University All Saints Collection, the collection of CFPR, University of West England, Bristol and Winchester School of Art Library.
Hand-cut, ink-jet printed and pamphlet stitched (2006)
Cover size: 21x14.9cm

Artists' Books 2003

The Jante Law

'A Refugee Crosses the Tracks' (Aksel Sandemose, 1933) outlined ten commandments said to reveal how Danish identity is dogged by inferiority and inadequacy.

This 'book' investigates and reassembles these commandments in both physical construction and applied design.

Accompanieing the book is the poster; 'the process' (2002), describing the making of the book.

In the collection of Manchester Metropolitan University Library All Saints.

Book:

Hand-bound and cut (2003)

Cover size: 31x31cm

Edition of 10

Poster:

Printed in plastic sleeve

Size: A6 folds out to A2

Featured in; 'All Messed Up: Unpredictable Graphics' by Anna Gerber, 2004

Boy Met Girl

A colourful fun sequel to 'Boy Meets Girl' (2000).

- the baby robots have arrived.

Like the previous book a sequence of building shapes reveals the boy and girl in the center of the book.

Hand-cut and bound book (2003)

Cover size: 8x12.5cm

Edition of 40 – SOLD OUT

In many private collections and also The British Library–The John Lyons Handling Collection, Tate Collection, London, Wexford Arts Centres Collection, Ireland, Smith College, Mass. USA, University of Southampton Libraries Winchester School of Art and Norwich School of Art & Design Library.

Artists' Books 2002

Snail Mail

A small book made of recycled postal packaging to celebrate non-virtual mail.

Ideal as a notebook, address book or just for a postal fan to treasure. It could also become a small postal gift for a lucky person. Add their name and address (or your own), creating a personal cover, then post it.

Hand-bound, made of 100% recycled postal packaging (2002)

Cover size: 8x14.5cm

Numbered open edition – is still available on order.

In private collections and also The John Lyons Handling Collection – The British Library, London, Tate Collection, London and Manchester Metropolitan University Library All Saints.

Punch & Beauty

– the neglected beauty of the punched hole.

A portfolio containing 234 randomly punched pieces of information, six of which are enlarged by 2000 percent, and then cut out.

Handmade and cut (2002)

Size: 15x15cm

Edition of 42

Sponsor: Avery Dennison, DK

In private collections and the collection of CFPR, University of West England, Bristol, Leeds College of Art & Design Library and Doverodde Book Arts Center, Denmark.

Was on show as part of the CFPR collection at:

RBSA Gallery–Royal Birmingham Societty of Artists

'Fine Presses and Artists Books'

26 April - 13 May 2006

Also featured in 'Creating Artists' Books' by Sarah Bodman. New York, Watson Guptill (2005), p17.