Glossary for a Game in Hell

Glossary for a Game in Hell

2017
Poetry book, video and sound.
Book: 14 x 20 cm, 24 pages; edition of 12 plus artist's proof
Video channel 13:27:00; Audio channel 42:25:00

Glossary for a Game in Hell is a book and a video based on the original 1914 print of a Russian book-long poem A Game in Hell (Игра в Аду)— written by Aleksei Kruchenykh and Velimir Khlebnikov, and illustrated by Olga Rozanova with 3 illustrations by Kazemir Malevich, including the cover. The edition was accessed while working at Guttormsgaards Arkiv. The video and audio feature the original 1914 book.

The book is developed in collaboration with Gleb Simonov, a Russian poet based in NY. It consists of 22 cards representing 22 words from the original poem, and is conceived as a fortune-telling game on any non-personal questions — a prophecy that would not make sense for 100 years.

The artist’s book was made as a part of the residency For a Rainy Day — Publishing as a Site of Collectivisation, organized by PRAKIS.
During the residency a group of eight artists— Vika Adutova, Maria Gordana Belic, Eva Funk, Araiz Mesanza, Daniela Müller, Iz Öztat, Gabrielle Paré and Per Westerlund— were working with Guttormsgaards Arkiv and Ellef Prestsæter. After the residency, each made an artist book as a part of a collective publishing project exhibited at Guttormsgaards Arkiv.