Volta 4

Published 2019 by the synaesthesia press.

Artist’s book by Jim Camp. Silk-screen and letterpress printed. Hand-tied wrappers. 10 pages.

Edition of approximately 100 copies.

Volta 4 was constructed from a found school notebook discovered on a film studio set in Budapest and later transformed into an artist’s book. Additional visual elements were drawn from antique printer’s blocks acquired at the Pasadena City College Flea Market, found photography, and various hand-printing experiments.

Like the previous issues of Volta, the publication reflects an ongoing interest in altered books, flea-market ephemera, vernacular photography, and independent publishing. Particular influences include Joseph Cornell, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol, Wallace Berman, and Berman’s legendary publication Semina, to which the entire Volta series owes a considerable debt.

The title page bears Wallace Berman’s statement: “Art is Love is God.”

Volta 4 continues the synaesthesia press tradition of small-run, artist-driven printed matter in which format, material, and content are inseparable. Produced for a small circle of readers and friends of the press, the publication functions simultaneously as book, archive, and object. Most given to friends of the synaesthesia press.

Design, printing, and binding by Jim Camp from a found printer’s block and a publicity photograph of 2 couples kissing in a car.

Availability: Limited quantities remain available from the synaesthesia press.