You Can Help Yourself. - 2019

Tempe, Arizona:: Cabbagehead Press,, 2019.. Edition of 10. 36 pages; 6.25 x 8.25". Three codex sections with two accordion sections in between. 6 copies with shaped deckles on the accordion sections and 4 copies on a different handmade paper. Printed letterpress in metal and polymer and an unknown wood type. Handmade papers leftover from artist's previous projects. Includes two-page footnote section. Bound in dark brown leather with paper title on front board. Blue belly band closure with "Federal Reserve" printed on it. Signed and numbered by the artist. Colophon: "'You Can Help Yourself' was created in 2019 after a group study of Privilege brought long-considered concerns to a place of necessary witness. Billie Holiday's song has played in the background of my days for years, and its plaintive verse provided the starting point, finally, for a way into a print project on the subject of wealth inequality with substance appropriate to these days of chaos and idiocy. ... All completed by the proprietor, John Risseeuw, because he could, he wanted to, and he had to." John Risseeuw: "The subject matter is income inequality. The title and some phrases inside are from Billie Holiday's 'God Bless the Child.' The rest of the texts are all factual from multiple sources that are footnoted at the end." Text excerpt: "[The 2017-passed tax] cuts for middle-class wage earners fade over time. By 2026, changes to individual tax rules expire, while corporate changes are permanent. "In 1933, corporate taxes provided 30.5% of federal revenues. In 2018 it will be 6.5%.