| Title | here |
| Artist / Creator | Mary V. Marsh |
| Press Name | Quite Contrary Press |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Oakland, CA |
| Publication Date | 2021 |
| Author of Text | Mary V. Marsh |
| Process / Technique | Photopolymer intaglio, polymer plate letterpress, pressure printing, and handset type |
| Number of Images | 10 |
| Structure / Binding | Folios glued to accordion-fold spine, from Hedi Kyle |
| Medium / Materials | Photopolymer intaglio, polymer plate letterpress, Tyvek, bookcloth |
| Paper Stock | Rives BFK, Kozo |
| Number of Pages | 10 |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 6.5 x 9 x .75 inches |
| Edition Size | Unique Artist Book |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed by the Artist |
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when my husband, Tony and I went on day trips to photograph with our medium-format cameras, I began photographing cell towers disguised as trees. Faux trees exemplify our need for internet service everywhere, and our desire for invisible infrastructure. Camouflaged, they are silent witnesses to our movements and interactions. This project is about data mining as an extractive industry; we allow the collection and sale of our personal data to be used to manipulate our attention. The intaglio prints of the trees honor them as icons of our time. The text messages suggest how our movements and attention are transformed into digital currency. Cut outs reveal unseen wires and metadata harvested. This unique artist’s book was created using collage to work out ideas for an editioned version.
Artist Bio
Mary V. Marsh is an Oakland artist making prints, artist’s books, and installations. By exploring the changing technologies of communication, she looks at how information is delivered and how it is perceived. Her years of working in libraries provide a foundation for ideas and materials, and research about reading informs the work. Mary V. Marsh has exhibited throughout the Bay Area with solo shows at San Jose Museum of Art, San Francisco Arts Commission at Grove Street, Berkeley Art Center, San Francisco Public Library Skylight Gallery, and Mercury 20. She makes artist’s books and prints as Quite Contrary Press, some are collaborative works with her husband Tony Bellaver. Quite Contrary Press shows at the CODEX Book Fair, and is in the collections of SFMOMA Library, The Bancroft Library, Harvard Fine Arts Library, Yale University Art Library and many others. Public collections include Alameda County, Berkeley Civic Art Collection, and the City of Hayward. She received an MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute in 1992, and a Fellowship Award from Kala Art Institute in 2018.