Antony Cairns
TYO2
21.3 x 14.8 x 3.8 cm (8.4 x 5.8 x1.5 inches)
12 Glass Plates, Each 3mm thick (1/8-inch)
Edition of 35 + Artists' Proofs
Signed and numbered colophon.
Emulsion transfer with protective layering.
Bound with archival tape and aluminum tubing.
This edition is Sold Out.
TYO2 is an artists’ book by photographer Antony Cairns. As an assemblage, its twelve sheets of glass reference the form of early photographic techniques as well as the photobook. The manner in which the images are fixed on to the sheets points to the glass negatives used by 19c photographers. This represents Cairns’ continued investigation into the history of photography as well as its mechanical and chemical processes. The choice of subject matter for this artists’ book — Tokyo, as shot in 2016 — also points toward the idea of the camera itself. Post-war Japan has assumed 95% of the world’s camera manufacturing and this hyperbolic development is symbolized by the country’s prototypical city: Tokyo. In a poetic sense, Cairns’ choice of subject in this otherworldly body of work is a meditation on photography itself. Conflating the forms and ideas of photography techniques and the reproducibility of the image results in this artists’ book. Weighing 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds), the ethereal images of the city have a hefty materialism.
Each sheet of glass was treated, printed, and bound by hand by GOLIGA. The glass sheets have been tempered and polished to eliminate chipping and sharp edges.
ANTONY CAIRNS (b. 1980) is a British photographer living and working in London, England. He studied Photography at the London College of Printing, graduating in 2002 with first-class honors. In 2015, Cairns received the Hariban Award, enabling him to learn about the complex process of collotype printing at the Benrido Collotype Atelier in Japan. Cairns’ work has been exhibited in leading art galleries and art fairs internationally, including the Unseen Photo Fair in Amsterdam; Photobastei in Zurich; Paris Photo in Paris; and Photo London in London. Recent solo exhibitions include OSC – Osaka Station City at Roman Road, London and LA-LV / LDN\_Process at SferaExhibition in Kyoto, as part of KYOTOGRAPHIE 2016.