Motto Books will participate at the 3rd edition of BOOKED: 2021 Art Book Fair @ Tai Kwun Contemporary. Hong Kong. From 25 to 28 February 2021.

“Je pense aux Bains Douches,
l’endroit où j’ai appris à vivre”*

Issue no. 4 of CURA. Clubbing fanzine is out now! Titled HUBERT and edited by Julie Boukobza, it is dedicated to the iconic Parisian club Les Bains Douches and to its unforgettable founder. Through the words of his two daughters, Julie Boukobza and Lily McMenamy, and an amazing collection of private photographs, published for the first time, the fanzine features an unconventional portrait of one of the protagonists of the clubbing scene and of the place he created.
*(Guillaume Dustan, Nicolas Pages, 1999) Quote sent by Constance Debré

This publication dedicated to the clubbing scene is a special project conceived, designed and published by CURA.

Guest Editor: JULIE BOUKOBZA
Texts: JULIE BOUKOBZA, LILY MCMENAMY
Cover image: CARSTEN HÖLLER

Year: 2021
Edition of 499

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Alga Marghen in collaboration with Expanded Media Editions is proud to present the final issue of “Soft Need”, a publication centered on the work of William Burroughs and expanding its deep influences into contemporary consciousness.

Founded in 1973 as a reaction to the aftermath of a three weeks’ stay across Xmas and New Year’s with Gysin and Burroughs by their confidant Udo Breger, “Soft Need“ had its roots in the underground press of the previous two decades and at the same time became a prototype for the forthcoming fanzine scene. Even if only 3 numbers were issued in the 70s (SN#8 in 1973 followed by SN#9 in 1976 and SN#17 “The Brion Gysin Special“ in 1977, all in print-runs of 300 to 500 copies) it quickly became a legendary publication for both Burroughs fans and those interested in counterculture experimental poetry artists’ editions. Almost half a century later, the last edition “Soft Need 23“ is now issued including exclusive material by William Burroughs and Brion Gysin as well as multi-media contributions by eighty international authors and artists.

Issued in an edition limited to 431 copies “Soft Need 23” is a 260-page art book reflecting on the contemporary relevance of historical works by Burroughs and Gysin within the frame of the Beat Generation. Dedicated to Ian Sommerville, the English electronic technician and computer programmer who was collaborating with Brion Gysin to the development of the early Dreammachine and programmed the computer-generated random sequences that Gysin used in his early cut-ups, the book present 190 illustrations, literary essays, photographs, poetry, visual art, caricature, memories and a vast array of ephemera by William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Louise Landes Levi, Gregory Corso, Jean-Jacques Lebel, John Armleder, Paul-Armand Gette, Peter Weibel (director of ZKM Karlsruhe and curator with Udo Breger of “The Name Is Burroughs” show in 2012), Carl Michael von Hausswolff, Sonic Boom, Papiro, James Grauerholz, Robert Wilson and many, many others.

A large format (32x24cm) book printed in 4/4-color and featuring a thread-sewn visible binding, “Soft Need 23” is a multi-media journey into William Burroughs and Brion Gysin underground world connecting them to the Beat Generation counterculture and revealing their influences on following generations. So step right in, and beyond!

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**Edition limited to 200 copies in glossy full-color sleeve**

Planam present the first 7” edition issued in its catalogue, the split-single with consonant musicians Sonic Boom and Papiro. Originally produced as contribution for “Soft Need 23”, a book on Burroughs/Gysin edited by Udo Breger, this 7“ included in the book’s ultra-limited deluxe version is hereby available in its shiny and beautifully repackaged edition. Former Spacemen 3 mastermind and alchemist producer Sonic Boom (aka Pete Kember, E.A.R., Spectrum) offers an unreleased instrumental version of ”Just a Little Piece of Me“, an overture for West-Coast-Style synthesizer and harp, starring a repeating ardent theme. Papiro, who was also responsible for the vivid cover artwork, engraves his side with the electronic lullaby ”Dream Journal (for Udo)“, written purposely for Breger, as the title suggests, and released exclusively for this single. Papiro and Kember are known for their gallant trips between experimental and meditative abstract worlds. This single shows their ability to touch the soul during these ventures.

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Which images are made manifest across an artist’s practice and which are the ones that disappear? How do objects—whether seen or unseen—and the knowledge they possess traverse across place and time to avow their resistance? These are amongst the questions asked by artist Nour Bishouty in her artist’s book 1—130, a project that draws upon her ongoing research into the works of her father, Ghassan Bishouty (b. 1941 Palestine – d. 2004, Jordan). In 1—130, she borrows from methods of indexing and object classification to act as figurative codes for identification and cross-reference within the contexts of value and legacy. All the while employing paratactic strategies of text and image to understand the life and work of an artist faced with the discontinuity of deracination.

1—130 constitutes reflexive encounters with a series of 130 selected paintings and sculptures made circa 1965-2004 in Lebanon and Jordan, and concludes with an afterword by editor and curator Jacob Korczynski.

1—130 is designed by Laura Pappa & Lotte Lara Schröder and co-published by Art Metropole & Motto Books.

Nour Bishouty is a visual artist working in a range of media including digital images, works on paper, sculpture, video, and writing. Her multidisciplinary practice draws upon autobiographical and material narratives to explore how dominant notions of value are articulated and exchanged, often focusing on the construction of popular identity in relation to histories of place. Nour was a fellow at the 2014/15 Home Workspace Program at Ashkal Alwan in Beirut. Her work has been exhibited in venues such as Darat Al Funun, Amman; Access Gallery, Vancouver; the Beirut Art Centre, the Helen Day Art Centre, Vermont; Casa Arabe, Madrid and Cordoba; and the Mosaic Rooms, London.

Jacob Korczynski is an independent curator and the recent recipient of a curatorial research fellowship from The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. He has curated projects for the Stedelijk Museum, Cooper Cole, Western Front, and the Badischer Kunstverein and his writing has been published by art-agenda, Camera Austria, Flash Art, and BOMB. With curatorial projects taking the form of exhibitions, screenings, and publications he is also the editor of I See/La Camera: I (If I Can’t Dance I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution), Andrew James Paterson’s Collection/Correction (Kunstverein Toronto & Mousse Publishing), Jimmy Robert’s Revue (Leopold Hoesch Museum), and Nour Bishouty’s 1-130 (Art Metropole & Motto Books).

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