Robbin Ami Silverberg

Clew

Clew explores the marriage tree in a Hindu temple in Durban, South Africa. The prose, printed in thin lines of red across translucent paper, crosses over pulp-painted commentary on the front and back. The text considers the ongoing ritual of young women wrapping a tree with silk threads as a prayer for a potential spouse.

The first image in the book is an archival inkjet photo of the actual marriage tree, and the polymer plate-printed image of the artist’s spouse bound up with silk threads functions as a wrapper to hold the text leaves. Glued-down strips of human hair create suggested text lines on the final leaf of the book.

Press: Dobbin Books
Date: 2004
Number and Edition: 9 of 14
Size: 8.5" x 13.5”

Dihangara

Dihangara combines mixed media and painting on paper and metal clothing hangers using copper tubing and Dobbin Mills papers. It is the second group collaboration organized at Artists Proof Studio by Robbin Ami Silverberg. Fourteen artists were invited to collaborate on a project in Johannesburg, South Africa. Each was asked to design and produce a portion of the edition consisting of an image or other visual material using a ready-made hanger as the structure for their artwork. The piece was inspired by the fairy tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes” and a line from a Carl Sandburg poem (“I write what I know on one side of the paper and what I don’t know on the other”).

Press: Dobbin Books
Date: 2001
Number and Edition: 22 of 30
Size: 6.25” x 18”

Vloekboek

Artists John Roome and Robbin Ami Sliverberg describe this book as a “perfectly sophomoric collaboration that grew out of a series of woodcut images.” The two artists saturate the senses by creating a visually stunning and physically demanding text, employing linguistic puns derived from the rich Afrikaans language. The accordion fold book is bound with black zippers and housed in an olive-colored box decorated with two woodcuts.

Most of Silverberg's books are interactive and explore a wide range of themes and styles, particularly when collaborating with others. The structure, design, methods of production and choice of materials enhance the final work.

Press: Dobbin Books
Date: 1997
Number and Edition: 4 of 5
Size: 10” x 13”