SECTION 34, 2nd Set, 1983

[34] leaves. 8vo, printed white softcover, title on spine, perfect-bound. New York: Self-published; Toronto: Art Metropole/David Bellman, 1984.<br /> <P> Artist's book by Conceptual artist Ian Wilson (1940-2020), now scarce; printed in an edition of 500 copies.<br /> <P> "Wilson has also produced a number of artist books, each simply titled Section followed by a number. The word 'section' reminds me of how nations organize their constitutions according to 'acts' and 'sections.' [...] Linguistically, a section also always implies a pre-existing whole. A section can only be derived from a whole. Chapters have a different connotation in that they are like building blocks toward a whole. After all, a chapter can be incomplete while a section is always complete to the extent that it is a section. As such, naming his artist's books Section followed by a number is homologically related to Buddhist or Hindu sutras, collections of canonical texts that were then assembled into a book of teachings."-Ken Lum, "Ian Wilson: From Chalk Circle to Full Circle" in Everything is Relevant, Writings on Art and Life, 1991-2018 (2020), p. 241.<br /> <P> Section 34, 2nd Set, 1983: "The known is unknown and unknown and known. That it is unknown is unknown and known and unknown...The unknown is unknown and known and unknown. That it is unknown is unknown and known and unknown..."<br /> <P> Fine copy. Among American institutions, WorldCat shows holdings of this book at: Museum of Modern Art (NY), Getty, UC-Santa Barbara, Southington Public Library (CT), and U. Wisconsin-Eau Claire.<br /> <P> ❧ Ian Wilson: The Discussions (2008), p. 173.<br /> <br /> A. Moeglin-Delcroix, Esthétique du Livre d'artiste: Introduction à l'art contemporain (2nd ed.: 2012), pp. 174 (pictured).