FRAMMENTI / FRAGMENTS

FRAMMENTI / FRAGMENTS is a compilation of the journal writings – the “thought notes,” both typewritten and scanned original scripts – of artist Clarence Morgan. The writings span several decades, and are occasionally accompanied by selected images of his abstract paintings. This rich material has been graphically interpreted and remixed by designer and book artist Steven McCarthy into this collaborative work.

McCarthy composes pages, spreads and sections, and considers books as akin to films or performances, or to handheld works of conceptual architecture. His approach to layout might be thought of as “painterly,” with attention to mark-making, typographic pattern, color, value, texture, contrast and so on. In his remix, however, McCarthy’s respect for both the content (Morgan’s words and images) and a functional, albeit expressive, graphic form (that the book’s eventual reader must decode) is honored.

This book’s fragments are a subset of larger, whole works. But they also make something new, also whole and yet different from their sources through graphic actualization. In this alternative context, Morgan’s active thoughts meet McCarthy’s thoughtful actions.

The book’s bilingual title (Italian / English) is concurrently redundant and expansive, and inspired by Morgan’s time in Rome during the summer of 2024.

The cut-out affixed to the cover is an actual fragment of an original artwork by Morgan. The book has 110 full-color pages and the edition of 100 was printed by Smart Set of Minneapolis.

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DISSEMINATION

Collections:

• Banff Centre Artist Book Collection. Banff, Alberta, Canada.
• University of Minnesota Library Gorman Collection, Minneapolis.
• Walker Art Center Library, Minnneapolis.