AAA to ZZZ (2018)

AAA to ZZZ (2018)
Guy Bigland
Perfect-bound paperback. H220 x W225 mm. 56 pages. Acquired from the artist, 6 July 2023.
Photos: Books In Books Collection.

Arranging all possible 3-character combinations of the letters of the alphabet in alphabetical order results in a mesmerizing display. Prolonged staring will lead the eye beyond the vertical and horizontal alphabetic patterns to catch diagonal ones, converging ones and gutter-crossing ones from a variety of starting points. It’s like following the colors and threads in a muted herringbone weave.

Bigland’s book recalls the conceptual art of Stanley Brouwn, Hanne Darboven, Peter Roehr and Emmett Williams among others (see the annotated webliography of Germano Celant’s Book as Artwork 1962/1970), and it bridges to the later work of Francesca Capone in her Weaving Language trilogy and, of course, to the many celebrants of the alphabet (see the online exhibition Alphabets Alive!).