Book B.

(Providence, Rhode Island?).: (By the artist)., (1958–64).. Loose as issued in original publisher's black wrappers, original grey cloth box.. Square folio. (424 x 428 mm).. Initial green leaf with manuscript colophon / justification and dedication (see below), 24 leaves of alternating green and red each with 90 degree hand-cut slots, final blank red leaf; sheet size: 404 x 408 mm. A very rare hand-cut 'slot book' by Di[e]ter Rot[h] with red and green sheets.From the proposed edition of 25 copies (although far fewer were issued, see The Dieter Roth Times quoted below) inscribed on the initial orange leaf in pencil: 'NR. 8 / 25 / DITER ROT / BOOK B / IDEA 1958 SC. 1964' and with the artist's thumbprint in black ink. Inscribed in blue ink 'fûr Kees Broos, Souvenir aus Basel / Marz 1987 / Dieter Roth.'This copy also includes an additional sheet of black paper with hand-cut slots, not called for, and presumably included in error.'As of 1958, Roth created works that rest between print-making and books, the so-called 'slot books'. Using black, white or colored square sheets of paper, he cut out precise shapes in various sizes, most of them being rectangular, others more complex, resulting in loose stacked sheets with window-like images peering through layer after layer of pages. Rotating and reordering the sheets, the viewer can change the visual sequence and interact with the work ... Roth worked on the idea of rearranging pages for some time. He would change the width of the slots, select different anglles for them, and alter the number of sheets and their colors ... these early hand cut [sic] Roth books are considered important and rare 'incunabula' in the development of the artist's book.' (The Dieter Roth Times). 'Roth frequently referred to these books as 'concrete poetry' or 'Op-Art', but simultaneously underlined their intrinsic independence of such movements.' (Dirk Dobke).'Roth identifies only 8 copies completed in his Collected Works volume 20.' (The Dieter Roth Times). According to the above quote, this would make the present copy to be the last of the edition.Kees Broos was an art historian.