LIVERSIDGE, Peter (b. 1973)

All of Peter Liversidge's work, his exhibitions and projects, begin life as a series of proposals. Hand-typed whilst sitting at his kitchen table, he taps out an astounding array of suggestions that range from the sublime to the ridiculous, taking in the very ordinary ("I propose to stand still") along the way. Many of these will go on to become performances, art works and ephemeral actions - and many others will never exist beyond the printed page. Liversidge's work has a natural generosity and most of his exhibitions and projects involve gifts and free multiples for his audience - in the past this has included books of his proposals, hand-etched gin glasses, cd compilations from his extensive record collection, embossed bank notes, ice cream, kebabs, and much more besides.

Peter's first substantial exhibition in America opens in a couple of weeks and I am assured that for anyone hoping to add to their Priceless Collection there will be treats to be had.

Peter Liversidge Where We Begin at the Sean Kelly Gallery, 528 West 29th Street, New York NY 10001 from 9 December, 2011 until 28 January, 2012

Photography: Jason Wyche, New York. Courtesy: Sean Kelly Gallery, New York

GONZALEZ-TORRES, Felix (b. Cuba, 1957-1996)

The late, great American artist Felix Gonzalez-Torres remains the reigning king of the takeaway, be it his poster stacks or piles of sugar candies. You can currently help yourself to one of his beautiful monochrome posters if you visit Constellations, an exhibition of four brilliant artists at The Cornerhouse Gallery in Manchester, UK until 11 September, 2011.

http://www.cornerhouse.org/art/art-exhibitions/constellations

http://www.felixgonzalez-torresfoundation.org/

EWAN, Ruth 'All things are common (Stephanie)' poster stack (2008)

Ruth Ewan, 'All Things Are Common (Stephanie)' 2008

A stack of 2,500 free posters first presented at Liste, Basel.

Ruth Ewan's (b.1980, Aberdeen) work engages brilliantly with social politics, protest and propaganda, unearthing forgotten heroes and idiosyncratic historical laws and customs to generate a deeper understanding of our present attitudes to radical ideas and social justice. Not heeding the usual warnings, she has worked on numerous projects with young children and small animals, of which this beautifully produced poster is one example. Several versions of this print have been made, each time the image is coloured in by a different child and reproduced as a free poster stack. The first version 'All things...(Stephanie)' was distributed at the Liste Art Fair in Basel in 2008, and again at Sandra Buergel gallery in 2009. Subsequently, three different versions were made for each of the touring venues of the exhibition in which the work was included, Rank: Picturing the Social Order 1516 -2009, which originated at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art - for exhibition information visit http://www.ngca.co.uk/home/default.asp?id=147

The work itself is derived from a copy of an early 17th century engraving satirising the Anabaptist belief in the sharing of common goods. The image, re-drawn by Ewan, has been coloured by a 12 year old girl from Buckhaven, Scotland. Each time it is shown again, Ewan specifies that the work should be re-coloured by a different child. Socialists, including Friedrich Engels, adopted Thomas Müntzer, a German Anabaptist and rebel leader of the Peasants’ War, as an icon of early class struggle. They believed Müntzer was a revolutionary who utilised biblical language to articulte his radical ideology and promote a new egalitarian society. One of his battle cries was omnia sunt communia, all things are common.

Free and wide distribution of her work is an important aspect of Ewan's practice. This and several of her other booklets and multiples are available by request through her website: www.ruthewan.com

PRICE, Seth "8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7"

Seth Price's work as an artist often concerns itself with modes of distribution, the commodification of art works and other objects by society, and ways of evading or subverting these norms. Distributed by the ICA as part of their exhibition Dispersion held in 2008 (titled, incidentally, by Curator Polly Staple after an essay of the same name by Price), 8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7 was available as a free download for the period of the exhibition, and can still be found on the ICA website by following the link below. According to the exhibition information, "8-4 9-5 10-6 11-7 is part of Price’s ongoing series Title Variable which focuses on music as a mutating resource, and is made up of an eight hour continuous mix of dance music from the last thirty years. The title refers to the eight hour working day, whether one is in, say, a unionised labour job (8-4), a typical office job (9-5), the cultural world (10-6) or running a boutique (11-7)."

Follow this link to the download:

http://www.ica.org.uk/18772/ICA-Exhibitions-clips-and-media/Seth-Price-84-95-106-117.html

ALYS, Francis - 'The Loop' Tijuana-San Diego 1997, postcard, unlimited edition

This postcard was found at Francis Alÿs' brilliant - but soon to end - exhibition, A Story of Deception at Tate Modern (until 5 September, 2010). It was first produced in 1997 when the artist was invited to participate at InSite, an exhibition held in the border territory between San Diego, California and Tijuana, Mexico. He used his commission fee to make a journey, from Tijuana down through South America, to Australia, across the Pacific Rim, north through Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, Shanghai and Seoul, before crossing to Canada and heading south through America back down to San Diego - in essence, traveling from Tijuana to its American neighbour without ever setting foot across the US/Mexican border. This ostensibly absurd and excessive action was undertaken to call attention to both the difficulties faced by Mexican citizens trying to visit the US, and also the extravagances of the art world at the time, flying here there and everywhere to attend the explosion of biennials. This small postcard, taken away from the exhibition by many thousands of hands, carries Alÿs' ideas out into the world spreading them far and wide.

A number of other extraordinary film works which are included in the exhibition have been made available by the artist for free to the public who can download them from his website:

www.francisalys.com

NAUMAN, Bruce - 'Body Pressure' (1974) poster print, unlimited edition

Incongruous baby pink in the subterranean gloom of DIA Beacon’s vast dungeon-like galleries devoted to Bruce Nauman, sits a thick stack of wafer thin poster sheets. They are copies of Body Pressure (1974), a brilliant early work which invites you to recreate one of Nauman's seminal performance pieces. Having made this discovery and perhaps peeled a poster of your own from the pile, you will begin to notice, when you resurface into DIA’s immense airy galleries above, many familiar flashes of pink, rolled or folded, peeking out of scruffy bags, tucked under armpits, crooked in elbows, or clasped tightly in hands. Then you can imagine each of your fellow visitors returning to the privacy of their own home and following the typed-out instructions which sign off with the unforgettable caution:

Availability: permanent display

www.diabeacon.org

STEZAKER, John - '18 Unassisted Readymades', MONO Issue #3, quarterly newspaper, edition of 3000

Perhaps not strictly speaking an art work, nonetheless, this beautifully produced newspaper edition deserves its place here. MONO is a quarterly paper dedicated to publishing visual essays, each issue selected by invited artists and curators. Issue #3 is devoted to artist John Stezaker and reproduces 18 enigmatic portrait photographs.

Availability: free, published in an edition of 3,000.

I collected my copy from The Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh.

See the website for other locations where MONO will be available periodically.

www.monopaper.co.uk