a number of books becoming a specific set (Sep 2015)
2015
book, hard cover, dust jacket, black & white
23 x 15 cm, 464 pages
A Number of Books Becoming a Specific Set is a book project by Peter Lemmens and Mark Luyten. Re-editing selected fiction and non-fiction titles, it creates a specific set, a small library. This set reworks a number of books that longtime circulated throughout the artists’ studios as reading material or to become part of artistic projects that somehow never took place. The collection installs placeholders as articulated blind spots of artistic practices. Further, this project aims at a complex reflection on the re-edition as a valid work of art. Following its original print, the text was replaced by the placeholder text 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet...' and the layout of its publication was meticulously copied. These re-edited versions were developed within the standards and restraints of print-on-demand book production and within the formal stereotypes of a first edition, hardcover novel. So far, five distinct series were developed in this book project: a series of ‘first editions’ (9 volumes published), a series of ‘second, third, fourth, ... editions’ (5 volumes published), a series of translations of the original first edition (1 volume published), a print-ready back catalogue for the publication house 'CONCAT publishing' and a free downloadable pdf back catalogue. Although defined as ongoing series, the production of new titles was intentionally ceased in September 2017. It completes the set as uncompleted.