Coming this spring from Intellect Books (UK/Chicago). it has been a long process but the book has come together wonderfully. Contact me at psramek@intacnet.org if you want to get info on the publication date.
A chapter that discusses using art collaborations for activating new sustainability thinking appears in this Routledge Handbook. Co-authored with INTAC partner Juha Suonpää at Tampere University of Applied Sciences.
The Abstraction is Not the Reality - new work ready to be printed and exhibited.
Photographed on isolated Playa Zancudo in the south of Costa Rica, The Abstraction is not the Reality points to the need for us to drastically change consumption habits. Abstract compositions of bright colour and texture attract the eye only to reveal themselves as bits of plastic pollution on dark sand, waves of patterned detritus created by the surf. Our superficial perception of the image as benignly aesthetic mimics our tendency to distance our thinking about difficult issues. In North America in particular, concerns about waste often remain on an abstract level, separated from the global reality. We know we waste too much; use too much plastic; that it goes somewhere that is bad for the environment. We try to do better, telling ourselves there will be solutions. But when confronted with isolated beaches covered in broken pieces of the products we consume, the abstraction becomes very real. The enormity of the problem is far greater than our well-meaning concern.
New books on the way! Just finished final copies of the handbound Kaido: Forest Paths printed on Awagami Unryu inkjet paper - pretty awesome image quality.
Handbound Books Catalogue
I have just updated the catalogue of my handmade artist book editions. It can be viewed at: https://www.sramek.ca/sramek_bookworks_cat_sep2022.pdf
Shinjuku, Tokyo from the series Shinjuku Gardens
Petržalka, Bratislava, SK at the SEDF Galerie Profil October 2022.
Two new additions tot he Urban Drift series of books have been completed. Thank you to Jordan Murphy and Shir Zilber fro their assitance in putting these together. The books will be included in the exhibition in Bratislava at the Central European House of Photography Gallery.