BOOK STAND: JOURNAL

Sale!

Tue, 14 May 2013 09:22:00 -0700

“For the artist, the moment of seeing can also be a moment of revelation.” - Joel Meyerowitz

Paul Strand, Bruno Munari, Ron Jude, good morning light and the few things we have left from our retail residency at The Standard are on sale in the shop:

http://artbookstand.com/collections/sale

The Symbiosis of Plants and Milk

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 11:44:00 -0700

A special closing event for BOOK STAND’s retail residency and Lili Cuzor’s month-long installation titled Plants: Our Silent Guardians. A demonstration, tasting and beer pairing by Milk Man Cheese Services, the L.A.-based multi-disciplinary cheese dojo of Chris Vamos. $15. RSVP to helpdesk@artbookstand.com.

When:

Friday, April 19th

7-9PM

Where:

BOOK STAND

@ The Standard, Hollywood

Poolside

8300 Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, California 90069

Flower Remedies with Alexis Smart

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 12:54:00 -0700

An intimate talk with Alexis Smart about the origins of flower remedies. Private consultations to follow. Talk is free. Consultations are $100, including a custom blended flower remedy. Limited space. RSVP to helpdesk@artbookstand.com to reserve your spot.

With:

Chicory and cardamom tea

Rose petal and chocolate cookies

Bob Dylan B-sides

When:

Thursday, April 18th

7-10PM

Where:

BOOK STAND

@ The Standard, Hollywood

8300 Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, California 90069

Photo

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:52:33 -0700

A Conversation with Maggie Harrsen

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 18:50:00 -0700

………………………………….

Part I

………………………………….

morning… birds

noon… nourish

night… moon

Image credit © Maggie Harrsen

perfect happiness… ocean

preposterous… untruth

fear… fearlessness

love… the sun

extravagance… minimal

comedy… laughing

work… my heart

our time… one love

the future… to grow, to bloom

the past… a seed

………………………………….

Part II

………………………………….

Image credit © Maggie Harrsen

most interesting thing in your wallet… a piece of coral and sea glass from the ocean

in another life, you’d be… a dolphin

lucky charm… blessed jade pendant from new zealand

words to live by… ’ all the energy passes thru you, you are all the energy ’ - be here now by ram das

prized possession… a piece of Palo Santo wood from the Amazon rain forest, from my love

one wish… gentleness

your most marked characteristic… a tranquil presence

Top: Masanobu Fukuoka via; Joni Mitchell via

a dream dinner party would be made up of who (dead or alive)… Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Bob Marley, Masanobu Fukuoka, Joni Mitchell

favorite shoes… barefoot

Matakana Village Farmers Market via

favorite store… the Matakana Village Farmers Market in Matakana, New Zealand

favorite friend… the Earth: plants, flowers, animals

favorite place… I love exploring new places.

favorite color… blue-green

favorite book… Heal Thyself by Edward Bach and Whole Earth Catalogs from 1968 - 1971

favorite website… I like books.

Image credit © Maggie Harrsen, bee on a flower, 2011

a favorite photo that you’ve taken… bee on a flower, 2011. I found vast interconnection through various photographic studies observing, interacting and documenting these beautiful insects. It was a process of patience and calm focused spirit. As an animal totem, the bee represents selflessness, purpose and eternal life.

Image credit © Ori Umesaka, 1930

favorite photo that someone else has taken... gelatin silver prints of various flowers in 1930 by Ori Umesaka. I like their simplicity and sincerity.

………………………………….

Part III

………………………………….

Image credit © Maggie Harrsen

You revere nature. Talk about this.

My journey is one of awareness and transformation. To create something new with what I see, I see nature. I always have since I was a little child. I see it in me and outside of me, I see it in others. I see it connects many points and holds many answers. I feel its honesty. I feel a desire to care for it, to learn its ways, and to protect it. A few words by architect Frank Lloyd Wright express it kindly for me: ’ Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you .’

How were you introduced to the world of photography?

It came, as the sun rises. It came as a way for me to record and express that beyond myself, to focus on that which gives me pure love - the earth, my environment. What I found was this is inside of me, inside all beings. I photograph as a way to meditate and deepen my understanding of life. to share with others these loving vibrations.

Talk about your work as a healer.

For me, Mother Earth ( the natural world ) is my healer. I believe we are our own healers, that we all, inside of ourselves contain this innate power to be free in mind, body, spirit. I share with others my happiness and my suffering. I always feel this is of great importance. The most beautiful mentors, gurus, individuals I have connected with all share the quality of openness - in listening, in direction, and in tender speech. I am fond of many means: meditation, reiki, yoga, herbs, juicing, fruits / vegetables, flower essences, shamanic healing, homeopathy, crystals, ayurveda, chinese medicine, music… after all, any ‘way’ towards the direction of your own truth.

Top: Image credit © Maggie Harrsen, Good Water Farms, 2012

Describe a day in the life of Maggie. How would it begin? What would you do? Where would you go? What time would you be in bed?

Ideally I like to rise with the sun and rest with the sunset. All my days are different, I do many odd jobs, I like this freedom. My dearest kind of Winter day I share with you - I wake, meditate, prepare a nettle tea, a juice of pears and leafy greens, and an acai bowl. I take some sun and water my plants. I finish scans from my new book and head to my boyfriend’s farm to lend a hand and prepare lunch together. I visit the ocean. play some music, like Ofege, Hayato Aoki… work on my website. I begin laying out my book and editing images. sweetgrass incense, yoga. a nourishing dinner of raw and steamed vegetables and grains. Read. Meditate … dreaming 10pm.

Image credit © Maggie Harrsen, KANOA, 2012

Talk about KANOA.

Kanoa is ’ the free one ’ in us all. For me, this body of work represents a spiritual igniting and rebirth. Making this book and the process that led up to it was freeing mind and body into a sort of boundlessness. To live in a space, and create a space, in balance. to be softly and explore the five elements of nature and their inward / outward manifestation. I saw them reflected in everything - a boy, in a flower, a bee. I saw their interconnection and felt strongly to share this consciousness in an intimate form, as a book which I named Kanoa.

Tell me about your creative process.

I see, I feel, I do. I am drawn to something that feels special, something unlike anything else. A smell, a colour, a movement. I am very curious. I like learning. I usually at that point have a feeling that will connect me to the subject, and if it feels right, I move forward. I would say mostly my process involves following my intuition. Taking something I see and connecting it to part of my own being. I am interested in this form of expression, a joining together.

What cameras do you use?

A Hasselblad.

Talk about future projects.

A second book, Solidago, and, a summer cookbook zine with healing recipes from nature.

Talk about a dream project.

To travel to a far away land, a small village in Thailand or India, to connect with the human beings and the land and make a book to share with others, to touch ones inner being. To cross the line of what we perceive as time and space and geographically look into oneness ( the idea that life is a circle, like the Earth, the sun, like a ‘mandala’ ). This moves me deeply.

MAGGIE HARRSEN / MAGGIEHARRSEN.COM

PRE-ORDER SOLIDAGO.

Herbal and Mineral Pouch Workshop

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:59:00 -0700

A make-your-own herbal and mineral pouch workshop with L.A.-based artist Lauren Spencer King. Materials fee: $45. Limited space. RSVP to helpdesk@artbookstand.com.

With:

Yogi Chai

Cacao chocolate with rosemary and pink Himalayan sea salt

The Velvet Underground mixtapes

When:

Tuesday, April 16th

7-9PM

Where:

BOOK STAND

@ The Standard, Hollywood

8300 Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, CA 90069

Photos from a Kokedama Workshop

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:44:00 -0700

Some photos from our first workshop in a series of three at The Standard, Hollywood.

Have a look here.

Kokedama Workshop

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 18:41:00 -0700

A very special kokedama (hanging string gardens) workshop with Lili Cuzor of Tigers to Lilies. Materials fee: $35. Limited space. RSVP to helpdesk@artbookstand.com to reserve your spot.

With:

Herbal teas

Orange blossom madeleines

Neil Young playlists

When:

Thursday, April 4th

6-9PM

Where:

BOOK STAND

@ The Standard Hollywood

8300 Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, California 90069

Plants: Our Silent Guardians. Opening Ceremony.

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:48:00 -0700

“You’ll feel like you’ve stepped into the 1960s by way of a 2013 nursery of homegrown products.” - Los Angeles, I’m Yours

Check out the photos from the installation and opening ceremony here.

And, take a nice virtual visit to the shop here.

Plants: Our Silent Guardians

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:37:00 -0700

For a limited time only, we’ve made our special collection of artists’ books about plants available online. To coincide with Los Angeles-based floral artist Lili Cuzor’s month-long installation at The Standard, Hollywood.

Including: haute-couture florists in Japan, gardens and the process of aging, plant life in Mexico City, fake flowers, trees like stones, trees at night, weeds in Sweden, supermarket flowers, Robert Mapplethorpe’s flowers, unpretentious herbs and much more from artists working in and around the natural world.

Retail Residency:

March 21st - April 22nd

The Standard Hollywood

8300 Sunset Boulevard

Hollywood, California 90069

Hours:

M-F 4-8PM

Weekends 12-5PM

BOOK STAND x The Standard

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 17:32:00 -0700

BOOK STAND is participating in a very special retail residency to coincide with Los Angeles-based artist Lili Cuzor’smonth-long installation titled Plants: Our Silent Guardians at The Standard Hollywood. The opening ceremony is on Thursday, March 21st from 7-9PM.

Find out more here.

BOOK STAND @ the L.A. Art Book Fair: Jaime Rugh

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 16:56:00 -0800

Today’s featured collaborator is the multi-talented Jaime Rugh. A photographer, textile artist and all-around creator of beautiful things, Jaime’s new book, Backyard Wildflowers, is one of our favorites in the special collection of plant books we’ve put together for the L.A. Art Book fair.

Jaime writes, “in the summer of 2010, I started cutting flowers and weeds from my backyard and making small bunches to bring inside. Collecting and creating within the limitation of what’s there is the theme of this ongoing art project. Documented in this small book are a selection of 37 flower bunches with their corresponding dates as well as a short writing about the project.”

In addition to Jaime’s charming book, we’ll also have a selection of her weavings and floral collage work for sale. Ok, we’re off to pack books! See you tomorrow!

BOOK STAND @ the L.A. Art Book Fair: Lauren Spencer King

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:42:00 -0800

Today we’re featuring our dear friend and collaborator, Lauren Spencer King. Lauren is the talent behind our hand-painted shop-in-a-shop signs, and so we asked her if she’d want to do something special for the LA Art Book Fair. To compliment our collection of photo books about plants, she’s created a large-scale watercolor of the poisonous aphrodisiac, henbane, along with matching limited edition bookmarks. Her stunning, monochromatic botanical prints will also be for sale. Stop by the stand this weekend (look for the black henbane!) and see her incredible work first-hand.

BOOK STAND booklet no. 01 for the L.A. Art Book Fair

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 11:47:00 -0800

We’re doing a few very special things for the first ever LA Art Book Fair that kicks off this Thursday night, and we couldn’t be more excited. To celebrate our talented collaborators, we’ll be featuring one project every day this week in anticipation of opening night.

In keeping with our collection of photo books about plants, we’ll be introducing the first ever BOOK STAND booklet: the southwest, by L.A.-based photographer Ye Rin Mok. The never-before-seen photos of unusual wild vegetation were taken on an impromptu drive through Utah and Arizona. Ye Rin has photographed plants (and people) for Wilder Quarterly, L’Officiel Art, and apartamento, among others. Stop by the stand to pick up your limited addition copy.

BOOK STAND @ the L.A. Art Book Fair

Fri, 25 Jan 2013 18:10:00 -0800

Stop by our stand at the first ever LA Art Book Fair at MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary hosted by Printed Matter, the world’s largest non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of publications made by artists.

We’ve put together a very special collection of photo books - new titles and vintage - about plants. Topics include: ikebana, herbcraft, backyard wildflowers, community gardens in Ohio and Robert Mapplethorpe’s stunning flower photography, among many others.

We’ll also be hosting a special mini-exhibition of original prints and textiles by artists who’s books we carry and friends affiliated with the shop.

Location

The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

125 North Central Avenue

Little Tokyo

Los Angeles, CA 90012

Hours

Opening Night: Thursday, January 31, 6–9pm

Friday, February 1, 11-5pm

Saturday, February 2, 11am–6pm

Sunday, February 3, 12pm–6pm<

Tortilla Española by Aja Pecknold

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:32:00 -0800

Find a person you like (or animal, or both or many)

and a couple of handfuls of potatoes, any kind

One yellow onion

7 eggs, with brightest yolks possible

Salt, pepper, parsley, paprika

Slice potatoes and onions thin and round.

Layer, with salt and pepps in a trusty cast iron of hot oil, 1/4 inch

Cook over low, until pots are softish.

Beat eggs with salt and pepper, pour into cast iron

Wait until eggs are set,

Finish in oven at around 300, until top is firm to touch.

Remove from over, flip onto plate.

Cool, serve at room temperature, topped with parsley and paprika

In generous slices with friends & lovers for breakfast, lunch, dinner or midnight/morning/afternoon snacks.

*Aja is the creator of Unified Field Collective, a conceptual outlet for art, ideas and other select projects. She loves the display of light in Northern Iceland near the winter solstice, when the sunrises and sunsets dissolve into one low, abbreviated hum of what might be, as the days begin to grow longer. Also the brightness of the yolk of a really good egg. She lives.

UNIFIED FIELD COLLECTIVE / UNIFIEDFIELDCOLLECTIVE.COM

BUY ISSUE #1: TRANSITION IN THE SHOP

Tres Leches Cake by Jill Guidi

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 14:30:00 -0800

You will need….

Cake:

6 eggs, separated

2 cups sugar

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ cup whole milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

Topping (leches):

1 can coconut milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 cup heavy cream

Frosting: whipping cream and cinnamon!

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat egg whites to a soft peak. Slowly add sugar until the peaks become stiff. Add egg yolks one at a time making sure to incorporate each one before adding the next. Alternate adding in the remaining dry and wet ingredients. Make sure to do this part quickly to not lose volume! Pour batter into two greased 10” cake pans… Bake until golden - about 25 minutes.

To make the magical leches: Combine coconut milk, condensed milk and heavy cream in a blender. Blend on high.

Remove cakes from oven. While still warm, poke holes all over em’ (a fork or skewer works great) and top with the blended liquid. Slowly keep adding the leches until you use it all!

Wrap the cakes in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge overnight. Unwrap and place first cake on plate, frost with whip cream, adding a good amount on top. Stack the second cake on top and frost with the rest of the whip cream. Sprinkle with cinnamon if your heart desires and serve with love. Your friends will be stoked.

*Jill is the Contributing Editor of Unified Field Collective. She is a Taurus. She loves roses, stargazing and tacos. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and orange cat, Kitty.

UNIFIED FIELD COLLECTIVE / UNIFIEDFIELDCOLLECTIVE.COM

BUY ISSUE #1: TRANSITION IN THE SHOP

T Magazine: A Quirky Little Bookshop in Cyberspace

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 19:59:00 -0800

The New York Times’ T Magazine sat down with shop owner Claire Cottrell to talk about five of her favorite titles in the shop. On Bertrand Fleuret’s Landmasses and Railways:

“Founded by two of my favorite artists, Leanne Shapton and Jason Fulford, J&L Books is one of the best small nonprofit publishing houses on the planet. This title takes a darker look at the natural world in a mysterious, voyeuristic, semi-creepy but austerely beautiful way. In the artists’ words, ‘It seems to be the record of a trip. You left the countryside and entered a city. Lost in the layers of construction and decay, you eventually found yourself in an overgrown garden.’ Magical.”

Read More

BOOK STAND Holiday Shop @ Tomboy

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:17:00 -0800

BUTTER TARTS BY LEANNE SHAPTON

Wed, 12 Dec 2012 12:59:23 -0800

For pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp Maldon salt

1 cup butter

1/4 cup ice water

Sift flour and water into bowl, cut in butter with two knives, add water, mix with fork or fingers until pastry can be gathered into a ball, wrap in plastic, chill 30 minutes or more.

For filling:

2 eggs

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp Maldon salt

2 tsp white vinegar

1/2 cup maple syrup

2 tsp Lyle’s Golden syrup

1/3 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350F. Beat eggs in bowl, gradually add sugar, beat until light and fluffy, add salt, vinegar, maple syrup and melted butter, mix until just combined.

Roll out dough, line tart tins, fill two-thirds with filling, bake 25 minutes until firm but not solid. (Optional additions: raisins, chopped walnuts)

*This is a family recipe.