The Piracy ProjectAintroduction * open call * blog * lectures* collection
Blog
26 November
Just back from Miss Read, KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin
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The Piracy Project at the New York Art Book Fair
Great review by Orit Gat on Rhizome
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2nd November
Temporary Reading Room at the New York Art Book Fair
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22nd October
We brought back many contributions from NY, check for new updates on our catalogue in the following days.)
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26th July
A Play of the Book Great Ideas "Why I Write - George Orwell" by Alison Ballance
Cover - Scanned copy of 9780141019000 first page (amended). Inside - Full body of George Orwell's
"Why I write" laid out in play form.
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26th July
Professionalisation by Scott Massey
A google search was done using the term "Professionalisation of the artist". I selected 5 results that
provided an argument of some kind either for or against the subject.
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26th July
Arboreal by Sjoerd Knibbeler and Rob Wetzer
A visual 'reader', which consists of images by professional photojournalists taken from various press
agencies websites. By adding our own index and structure, we want to raise questions about power,
legacy and self-promotion and the way nature is cultivated to do so. This reader is part of a larger,
ongoing documentary project about the ways we relate to our natural environment. It's main subject
are trees and we use mainly photography and video to research the ways in which they represent a
social construct. The project is called The Bonsai Project.
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26th July
The Art of Kissing by Karen Lacroix
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26th July
reproducible, irreproducible by Joan Vicent Mari Domenech
The name of the title is the same from English to Spanish and from there to English, so you can play.
Reproduce= reproduce (ENG/SPA) At the same time I covered the book with fiberglass to make it
unplayable | it becomes unique. This makes the project somewhat contradictory conceptually.
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26th July
História da Arte Pirata by Beatriz Bittecourt
"...In this spirit of the translated, copied, manipulated and multi-authored, a new adaptation has been
created. A Historia da Arte Pirata was conceived by artist Beatriz Bittencourt who announced a public
call for her fellow artists to help reinvent the book. To ‘rethink the object book, its contents and its
history so that it is feasible to reproduce by photocopying, downloading, scanning.’
The book contains 112 pages from the seminal text, pirated by fellow artists who have developed
visual and sound interpretations of the previously austere pages. Gombrich has stated that The Story
of Art is the story of 'making good pictures' and this edition takes that perspective to heart. Here a
montage of styles, approaches and practices offer image-based readings, amendments and new
works. Unexpected interpretations beg you to refer to the original, working back and forth through
the text, hunting for its source. Formatted for black and white digital print, as sound files and
downloadable, the book is made to be accessible and transportable. This mutability, once again,
reminds us that our histories are as subjective as our re-readings."
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26th July
A Room of One's Own / Four Hundred Thirty Three Libraries by Kajsa Dahlberg
A compilation of marginal notes made by readers in copies, held by Berlin libraries, of Virginia Woolf's
"Ein Zimmer für sich allein", Ein eigenes Zimmer", "Ein Zimmer für sich". The pages of the book are
taken from Annette von Charpentier's translation of "Ein Zimmer für sich" published in 1993 by
Büchergilde Gutenberg, Frankfurt am Main. The essay "A Room of One's Own" was originally printed
in October 1929 by Hogarth Press, England.
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26th July
Sorry Bible by Willum Geerts
"This "Sorry-Bible" is a project in progress, where all letters in the bible are erased with white
correction fluid except for the S, O, R, R, and Y in that order."
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26th July
Proust and Signs by Neil Chapman
"The idea has been to make a replica of my own copy of "Proust and Signs" using available means.
The binding error is also reproduced. I hope the book doesn't fall apart too soon: it's possibly rather
fragile."
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26th July
Aurélie Noury / Éditions Lorem Ipsum
"Lorem Ipsum" deals with the many cases in literature of books imagined within real books. In the
form of a title, a note of intent, a quotation, or even a complete composition, these fictitious books
may be at the service of history, or declare a very real author’s project. If literature is brimful of such
objects, for the most part, at least, complete with a title and an author’s name, is it possible to
imagine the case of an autonomous book which, in the respect, would provide enough info
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26th July
Dispersion by Sissu Tarka
The project PIRATE AFFECT uses the booklet Dispersion (available online) by artist Seth Price for an
enquiry into the ability for authorising distribution, and the potential and exploitation of a re
contextualisation and dissemination of (original) work through different agencies. Besides dis- and
relocating the URL of Dispersion onto another host site "an act of discreet piracy", a symbolic act of
dispersion is carried out. A number of special designed envelopes, which refer to Dispersion and more
generally to Price's projects around Distributed History, will be sent through different types of
institution: government, established art gallery, university, creative business and independent
architect/PhD student. A second edition of the unfolded envelopes/prints is submitted to AND.
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26th July
Tarzan Alive: Addendum 2 by Phillip Edward Johnson
An addendum to the addendum of 'Tarzan Alive'- A text which connects literary characters in a vast
family tree. My addition connects famous writers who once lived in Stoke Newington in a conspiracy
spanning 300 years and 3 continents involving pirates, book burning, and the lost library of Libertalia.
the text serves to explain why it might be that Philip Jose Farmer's books are kept in Stoke
Newington Library and can not be lended or accessed by the public.
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26th July
Signed A.C. by Mina Bach
A usual observation on the 'false document' literary device using a well known classic (The Outsider by
Albert Camus) as a vehicle touching on the subject of authorship and unique vs. multiples.
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19th June
New addition to the collection:
The search for Invariants: The Diamond Theory of Truth, The Miracle Octad Generator and
Metalibrarianship compiled by Steve Richards (source material: Finite Geometry of the Square
and Cube by Steven H. Cullinane)
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19th June
The Elements of Drawing 2011, John Ruskin - by Rachel Cattle
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19th June
New addition to the Pirate Collection, Franz West.
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19th June
Ways of Seing, John Berger by Madeleine Preston
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19th June
Wilderness by Justin Bailey
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19th June
New addition to the Pirate Collection, "Une Étrangére Lit L'Étranger". "Albert Camus, The Outsider,
Words highlighted by an unknown reader then excerpted and reproduced by Makoto Yamada"
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10th June
Red Tape 06
Terms of Use
Paula Le Dieu
Marysia Lewandowska
Chris Thorpe
Sarah Teasley
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10th June
Design as Art Revisited by Zoe Anspach
"This printed project will explore a selection of ideas from Bruno Munari's original book DESIGN AS
ART published in 1966 by Ediori Laterza."
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10th June
Pen and Stellar by David Osbaldeston
"David Osbaldeston's work is concerned with the production of art and its positioning and reception,
both within the gallery tradition and the structures that surround it. His ongoing publishing project
Stellar uses drawing, collage and text to produce a critical response to the work of artists and galleries.
In Your Answer is Mine obsolete visual languages that once penetrated the public consciousness are
recalled as posters and pamphlets form reference points in an advertising copywriters' allusion to
describe what it might mean to maintain a radical view in order to affect one."
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10th June
"What is an Apparatus?" a publication by Marysia Lewandoswska for SHADOWBOXING ,
it contains the scanned pages of the original essay plus Marysia annotations.
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10th June
Re-writing Freud by Simon Morris published by Information as Material
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10th June
"One Hundred Gravures from 1797 that illustrate the book The New Justine Or The Misfortunes of
Virtue followed by The Story Of Sister Juliette Or The Prosperity of Vice of Marquis de Sade" by
Marilena Agathou & Elina Roinioti
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10th June
Beautiful newspaper printed by Emma Edmonson
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10th June
New addition to the collection by Sara MacKillop, "Book Cover".
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6th June
"Through the eyes" by Jessica Windhurst
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6th June
Camille Bondon, Jaques Rancière, Le Maître Ignorant, 2011
"Using the words of the book to talk about it. One of the lessons of the original book applied to the
book itself. The book as knowledge and reflexion support out of which one just need to talk about
present things to reveal our own potential (or its and your potential). A proposal of intellectual
emancipation by the texts which have to be diffused, here by the text reflect, footbridge to the
books."
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6th June
New addition to the collection by Stefanie Schwarz.
"I chose to work with Umberto Eco's 'Open Work' and translate his idea of an open artwork into
abook concept. Eco refers in his book to artworks that do not have a definitive structure, that are
characteristic for their openness and depend on the active role of their users/consumers.
My idea is to provide a basis that enables the reader to create his or her own 'Open Work'. Thus
reader turns into an editor and bookmaker who can constantly assemble stories and extracts
he/she regards as appropriate."
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6th June
From Neil Chapman:
"The Book of Jonah, authorized King James text in pamphlet form with a science-fiction illustration
on the cover. Jonah is listed under my own imprint (scenesadventures) for reasons connected to its
inclusion in my PhD."
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6th June
From Neil Chapman an A2 photocopy with Georges Perec's The Winter Journey rewritten from
memory
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6th June
New project, "Piracy Catch" by Clarissa San Pedro
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1st June
Marc Fischer from Public Collectors sent us the link to "The Unforgettable Fire - Pictures Drawn
by Atomic Bomb Survivors". "This book is out of print and really shouldn't be" - Marc emailed us.
When he found a copy, he scanned it and put it online. We will add the print-out to the collection.
Have a look at the pdf on Public Collector's webpage. Keep
scrolling down.
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1st June
Waldemar Pranckiewicz brought us The Pharmakon No1 zine.
B5 size, 22 colour pages, 25 copies, 2011
Art direction & Layout: Waldemar Pranckiewicz
Illustrations: Marcin Kuligowski, Waldemar Pranckiewicz
The zine has a science fiction theme and features two short stories by Philip K. Dick plus a tiny
extract from a short story by Bret Easton Ellis.
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1st June
Visit us just to check Waldemar Pranckiewicz amazing book "I'll Be
Your Mirror ".
"During the screenings of Andy Warhol's film at the BFI in London, in 2007 I took many photographs
directly from the screen. Later I asked my friends to re-stage a few photographs of The Velvet
Underground and sent me results. I edited all photographs and created mixed sequences of images
from past and present. The project is dedicated to Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground and my
friends. "
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1st June
Sophie Hoyle's "GMC Cut/Up II ".
In the act of cutting the book into solid blocks, the text therein is left inaccessible. It has been
transformed as a carrier of text into being considered primarily as a physical object. The new
components of the book can be re-arranged in any combination, allowing the ‘reader’ to continuously
‘re-edit’ the book in their own way.As with GMC Cut/Up I, GMC Cut/Up II re-frames the idea of books
as sacrosanct and uninterferable, both in text and as object, opening up different approaches to their
reading and handling.
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1st June
Sophie Hoyle's "GMC Cut/Up I: Conical Intersect".
Pages of the book have been cut into using silhouettes from Gordon Matta-Clark’s piece Conical
Intersect, as taken from photographs included in the book itself. This lo-tech intervention, mirroring
the action of the artist described in the content of the book, re-configures the reading of the content
in leaving only partial remains of the original text, whilst also reflecting the physicality of the actions
in the work written about in a way that parallels but essentially differs from that which can be
conveyed in the medium of text.
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1st June
Hester Barnard's "Pixel" has just been added to the collection.
Rick Poynor's Jan van Toorn: Critical Practice has been screen-captured from Google Books on
three different devices and reproduced. (Devices: 3.5-inch iPhone 4, 16-inch Macbook Pro, 30
inch Mac touch screen). The image quality is directly related to the device (and the resolution
and size of the screen) used for image capture. (NOTE: When viewing Jan van Toorn: Critical
Practice on Google Books from a computer, a preview of every page is shown. When viewing
the same book on Google Books from a mobile device, only a preview of every fifth page is shown)
pages. Pages 77 through 621 are not available for the screen-capture process and currently,
cannot be copied.
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1st June
Hester Barnard's "Copied Right".
Paul Goldstein’s entire book International Copyright has been screen-captured on a 21.5-inch iMac
from Google Books. The book is reproduced from the screen-captures. The current limitations of the
DIY (Do-It-Yourself) screen-capture book publishing enterprise are revealed by the limit Google Books
places on the previewing of particular pages. Pages 77 through 621 are not available for the screen
capture process and currently, cannot be copied.
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1st June
Hester Barnard's pirated version of Flash Forward.
The text of the Flash Forward (Emerging Photographers From 2010) exhibition catalogue has been
reproduced accurately, but no photographs have been included. Each image or graphic device has
been substituted with its linguistic equivalent.
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1st June
Jillian Greenberg's appropriation on The Politics of Space
by Gaston Bachelard has been added to our shelf.
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24th May
Scott McCarneys great Ed Ruscha adaption
Various Fires and MLK has been added to our shelf. Scott published it in 2010 and sent a copy over
to us. The book is also featured in Michalis Pichler's Six Hands and a Cheese Sandwich, which also
forms part of our collection.
Scott McCarney, Various Fires and MLK,
5.5 x 7 in., 42 pp., digitally printed, glassine wrapper, 2010
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23th May
"In a similar vein, thirty-odd pirate editions made in Alessandro Manzoni's 1827 novel "The Betrothed"
wildly popular all over the world, without earning him a single penny. Manzoni had wanted to create
an illustrated edition with the editor Redaelli de Milan and the engraver Gorin de Turin, and publish it
instalment by instalment. But a Neapolitan editor pirated the text on a week-by-week basis, meaning
that Manzoni didn't make anything from any of those thirty editions. That's another example of the
relativity of our technological wizardry."
"This is not the End of the Book", Jean-Claude Carriere and Umberto Eco, pg 48
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16th May
Amazing book by the Parasitic Venture Press
If you want to know more: www.parasiticventurespress.com
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16th May
Really interesting text about scanning, must read for everyone who is working
on their pirate projects.
If you want to know more www.fillip.ca
Fillip, a contemporary art magazine from Vancouver, Canada
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16th May
We just received a beautiful selection of pirated books from Michalis Pichler. We will catalogue
and upload more details on each individual books later this week, but you can always drop by
the Pirate Lab (3 to 6 pm) or the Piracy Lecture (6:30pm) this Thursday at Byam Shaw and
check them out in person.
Michalis Pichler, Der Einzige und sein Eigentum
464 pages, 10 x 15 cm, 2009, "greatest hits" Berlin
ISBN 978-3-86874-005-9 3-978-86874-001-1
Michalis Pichler, Monsanto Company Earnings Call Transcript
36 pages, 10 x 15 cm, 2010, "greatest hits" Berlin
ISBN 978-3-86874-006-6
And if you want to know more: www.buypichler.com
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16th May
A brazilian contribution to The Piracy Project from Beatriz Bittencourt
in collaboration with IdeaFixa.
Creatives from all parts of Brazil participated! Each received a page from the book and retraced their All pages have been made, received and are already diagrammed. The book was beautiful, but now ........................................................................................................................................................ 12th May Loads of interesting books arriving. Join us today on the Pirate Lab today from 3:00 to 6:00, Check later for full descriptions and photos from the new projects at twitter / Facebook / blog. ........................................................................................................................................................ 11th May Where The Robots Work | FutureEverything ........................................................................................................................................................ 8th May Our second contribution to the piracy collection has come from Sky Nash. Wonderful! ........................................................................................................................................................ 3rd May An invitation to focus on the theme of extraterritoriality seen as a natural and necessary condition for www.residencyunlimited.org/kiosk/opportunites/2011/05/pirate-camp-italy-deadline-june-6-2011/ ........................................................................................................................................................ 3rd May "Not long ago, if you wanted to scan a book you had to actually build a scanner, or buy a copy and www.techcrunch.com/2011/04/30/the-cloud-has-us-all-in-a-fog/ ........................................................................................................................................................ 2nd May Our first Piracy Lecture is this Thursday, 5 May at 6:30 pm – " The New Pierre Menard: digitisation ........................................................................................................................................................ 30th April The Pirate Lab is ready to run. Come and visit us any thursday in May from 3 to 6 pm to discuss your ........................................................................................................................................................ 29th April We just received our first official response to the Open Call by post. We will be posting the books we ........................................................................................................................................................ 25th April I just wanted to say thanks to you for a great evening the other night and let you know that I don't The obvious choice for a project like this might be Kathy Acker's Blood and Guts in Highschool, since Well, perhaps Acker's already done enough work on piracy and doesn't need any improving in this John Moseley ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 March 7 pm - Pirate Books in Peru – a talk by Andrea Francke We had a great time listening to Andrea discuss findings from her recent research
Based on the call to participate, I put forward the proposition to my peers in Sao Paulo to
copy/appropriate/interpret the classic, stately but dull ART HISTORY E. H. Gombrich, rethinking the
object book, its contents and its history so that it is feasible reproducibility by photocopying,
downloading, scan.
way. Are designers, musicians, teachers, writers, librarians, dog walkers, so ... Therefore, each page
will have a different way of playing. Thanks also to any type of final product: DRAWING, HISTORY,
AUDIO, VIDEO, SCULPTURE, PHOTO, provided that they are reproducible.
need help to afford to start playing it, I need the value to rent the copy machine for the party, paper
and binding so I can make a copy for each artist who participated, besides urging this method of
spreading culture around.
or at Eleonor's lecture that starts at 6:30, and use the opportunity to browse around.
FutureEverything - Festival of Art, Music and Culture.
futureeverything.org
You can come have a look at the Byam Shaw Library.
being-an-artist. The status of not-belonging-to-any-place on the one hand consigns the artist to a
condition of marginality, on the other it grants him a privileged point of view in representing and
discussing the world.
turn every page. Now would-be book pirates can just crowdsource 10 people to go to bookstores and
take 20 pictures each, et voila: 400 scanned pages in Google Docs. Easier book piracy probably isn’t
what Google had in mind, but they accidentally built a system which enables just that." 
and everything after" , James Bridle. check the website for more info.
pirate book project our get some help with printing and binding. An stay afterwards for a fantastic
lecture at 6:30.
receive here and in our blog. And you can also follow us by twitter.
think I'll contribute to the book project. At the moment I can't see quite how to make sense of it for
myself because I don't think I would want to make improvements to any book that was essential to
me and should be in an an art college library. The whole point is, I think, if they're essential to me,
they're fine as they are.
Acker already described herself as something of a literary plagiarist/pirate. Or perhaps her 'Pussy,
Queen of the Pirates' would be the one, just for the aptness of the title, but I prefer Blood and Guts.
The one thing I might be tempted to do to it is abridge it; Acker's method was to write (often nicking
things from other books along the way) without ever going back and rewriting or editing. While the
results are frequently brilliant, there are also a few passages one might decide one could do without.
This would, of course, however, betray Acker's purpose, or part of it, which seems to be to show a
writer veering in and out of brilliance and make the reader privy to that normally hidden process. In
other words, just as she was undermining the myth of originality, she was also undermining the
myth of spontaneous genius. Or she was trying to and failing – so much of what she comes up with
in Blood and Guts really is brilliant. But anyway, in order to preserve the critique of genius, or the
examination of it in its raw state, whichever it is, no matter how much you may subscribe to her
critique of originality, you have to preserve the work in its original form. That's purism for you: it
always seems to end up swallowing itself by its own tail.
context. Shakespeare too, given that most of his works are just 'improved' versions of older stories.
The one other idea I've had while writing this is that it might be interesting to tinker with Paul
Auster's Leviathan. It's a bad book, so it's not essential to me at all, but it would have a place in an
art college library since it is in a large measure about a fictionalised version of Sophie Calle. It's also
quite moronically sexist, so much so that you keep hoping the writer is writing as a stupid sexist
character who will eventually have his comeuppance, but this never happens and in the end you have
to conclude that the sexism is Auster's own. So it might be nice to rewrite it the way one wanted it to
come out. Yes, maybe I could do that. The problem is, it would mean re-reading that stupid book.
trip to Lima, where she visited book stores, street markets and traffic lights, where
pirated books are for sale. She returned to London with a heavy suitcase full of versions,
which will be on display at the Bökship.