Doug Aitken: A - Z book (fractals). Exhibition (September 20 - Januar 11, 2003) at the Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia

the long version

A, B, C, D, E ... In this new, experimental volume of the work of artist Doug Aitken, the alphabet serves as an underlying organizational structure, a map which readers can turn to as a guide for moving through the book's images and texts. Combining a selection of new and older artwork alongside diverse texts, this book juxtaposes seemingly unrelated elements, creating shifting relationships and patterns that emerge only with time. On the visual side, the book offers a selection of past work, new photography, images from recent video pieces - such as "Interiors", "New Ocean" and "New Skin" - and a new series of collages. On the verbal side are an essay by noted architecture and design scholar Michael Speaks, excerpts from a conversation between Aitken and curator Russel Ferguson, a short story by artist Philippe Parreno, a series of short entries written by Aitken, and excerpts from a conversation between Aitken and Dan Kish, a blind man working at the Braille Institute on Los Angeles on echo location.