The Internal Machine

About

Organized by John Roach, Assistant Professor of Fine Arts at Parsons School of Design and Art and an interdisciplinary artist

In the style of Alfred Jarry:

“The book is a mechanism, a piece of technology with multiple parts. It is a device fitted with a central hinging structure, which when opened doubles its surface area as if by magic. This machine is by no means limited solely to forward motion and its bilateral division, enabled by its hinged spine, makes a fluid multidirectional transport possible and also inevitable.”

Following this notion of the book as not only object but of mechanism, The Internal Machine suggests a perspective that considers the book object as a piece of technology. Utilizing a thought process that highlights the relationship between form and function and their dual contribution to the movement of a book through time and space, The Internal Machine prompts the question of a book’s structure in relation to its purpose.

Artists include: Doug Beube, Ranjit Bhatnagar, András Böröcz, Caroline Bouissou, Gillian Brown, Brian Dettmer, Juan Fontanive, Arnaldo Morales, Bruno Munari, Alexander Rosenberg, Claudia Schmitz, Ward Shelley and Douglas Paulson, Kaethe Wenzel, Benjamin Wright, Nick Yulman, Mary Ziegler