Bottom of the Lake is a 256-page facsimile of artist Christian Patterson's family telephone book for his hometown, Fond du Lac ("Bottom of the Lake"), Wisconsin, printed in 1973, soon after Patterson's birth. This artist's book includes found markings and reproductions of materials inserted in the phone book in addition to Patterson's drawings, photographs and marginalia. This book-within-a-book carefully combines the fact-based phone book with the artist's highly subjective re-imagination of his hometown, playfully juxtaposing different documentary forms and ways of seeing to create a deeply personal, darkly humorous "other" book. The experience of reading Bottom of the Lake extends beyond its pages with an interactive feature: a telephone number attached to the book connects users with over 100 audio experiences, mixing field recordings, found archival material and performances that recreate the artist's hometown. Christian Patterson (born 1972) was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and is now based in New York City. A self-taught photographer, he embellishes his work with drawings, paintings or objects. In 2005 he worked with William Eggleston on a project titled Sound Affects; his second monograph, Redheaded Peckerwood, won the 2012 Rencontres d'Arles Author Book Award and is now in its third printing. Patterson was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013 and the Vevey International Photography Award in 2015. He is represented by Rose Gallery in Santa Monica, California and Robert Morat in Hamburg and Berlin, Germany.
Featured image is reproduced from Christian Patterson: Bottom of the Lake.
PRAISE AND REVIEWS
Brooklyn Rail
Benjamin Gottlieb
A uniquely personal portrait of a place, full of messages whose purposes are forgotten or remain obtuse to the viewer... In reviving his phone book from a typical death, he may have done something close to securing his own immortality.
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In 2015, Christian Patterson published Bottom of the Lake, an enigmatic artist's book that immediately developed a cult following, and just as quickly sold out. A facsimile of a 256-page, 1973 phone book from his hometown of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin—with all of the original notations and inserted materials left in tact, alongside photographs, drawings and other materials by Patterson—the book also comes with new graphic additions by Patterson and a telephone number that users can dial to connect with dozens of audio recordings which bring Fond du Lac into a much larger dimension, evoking without specifying the artist's memories and fantasies of the small-town Midwest of his youth. Now available in a new printing. continue to blog
Join ARTBOOK @ the NYABF tonight through Sunday, September 20 for book signings, magazines launches, special fair-related acquisitions and more! Featured image is reproduced from Christian Patterson's evocative new artist's book, Bottom of the Lake, forthcoming from Koenig Books and launching with a signing of advance copies tomorrow evening, September 18 from 6-7PM in the ARTBOOK @ MoMA PS1 Magazine Store (located just inside the museum entrance kiosk). Photographer Mike Mandel will sign copies of his new boxed limited edition artist's book, Good 70s simultaneously. continue to blog
FORMAT: Pbk, 8.75 x 11 in. / 256 pages / 65 color. LIST PRICE: U.S. $60.00 LIST PRICE: CANADA $79 ISBN: 9783863357702 PUBLISHER: Koenig Books AVAILABLE: 10/27/2015 DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. RETAILER DISC: TRADE PUBLISHING STATUS: Active AVAILABILITY: In stock TERRITORY: NA LA ASIA AFR
Bottom of the Lake is a 256-page facsimile of artist Christian Patterson's family telephone book for his hometown, Fond du Lac ("Bottom of the Lake"), Wisconsin, printed in 1973, soon after Patterson's birth. This artist's book includes found markings and reproductions of materials inserted in the phone book in addition to Patterson's drawings, photographs and marginalia. This book-within-a-book carefully combines the fact-based phone book with the artist's highly subjective re-imagination of his hometown, playfully juxtaposing different documentary forms and ways of seeing to create a deeply personal, darkly humorous "other" book. The experience of reading Bottom of the Lake extends beyond its pages with an interactive feature: a telephone number attached to the book connects users with over 100 audio experiences, mixing field recordings, found archival material and performances that recreate the artist's hometown.
Christian Patterson (born 1972) was born in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin and is now based in New York City. A self-taught photographer, he embellishes his work with drawings, paintings or objects. In 2005 he worked with William Eggleston on a project titled Sound Affects; his second monograph, Redheaded Peckerwood, won the 2012 Rencontres d'Arles Author Book Award and is now in its third printing. Patterson was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013 and the Vevey International Photography Award in 2015. He is represented by Rose Gallery in Santa Monica, California and Robert Morat in Hamburg and Berlin, Germany.
