Nairy Baghramian. Breath Holding Spell

On the levels of both form and content, "Breath Holding Spell" unmistakably harks back to Bruce Nauman's 1970 artist's book LA AIR, whose eight monochrome pages present photographs of the atmosphere, illustrating the widely varying hues of the air over L.A. It inspired this artist's book by Nairy Baghramian, which features variations on a single photographic motif: no more than a cropped detail of a tightly packed standing crowd of people is visible in Tight Sluice. Monochrome pages that reprise the colors of their attire appear in rhythmical alternation with the pictures. The artist has autographed the books on the back cover, again quoting Nauman, though his signature was a printed facsimile.