Jorge Pardo

Jorge Pardo, Untitled [Ten People Ten Books], 1994. 1 of 10 unique book sculptures, cloth bound accordion fold out vellum book, 11 ¾ x 7 ½ x ½ inches, closed. Signature inner cover.

10 copies of a catalogue were produced documenting Pardo's design of a house which could be built according to the artist's floor plans. The catalogue consists of 10 pages of architectural drawings on vellum, an essay by the artist, and a quote by film director Billy Wilder. Pardo inverted the common practice of catalogue distribution which mostly serves the promotion of fine art works. Since it is most likely that there are more collectors willing to buy paintings for their houses than building houses for their paintings, Pardo restricted the number of available catalogues to ten copies. The collector / purchaser acquires the rights to eventually build the house in order to realize the artwork. These ten available copies mirror the number of copies which Pardo gave to all the people who were involved with design, printing, and payment of the project.