AA Bronson
Queer Spirits
AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs
From 2008 to 2010, AA Bronson and Peter Hobbs collaborated to convene small groups of men in various locations throughout Canada and the United States in a secret group ritual titled "Invocation of the Queer Spirits." Invoking the queer and marginalized histories of each site in celebrations of sexuality and memorialization, the groups performed something that Bronson has characterized as "a hybrid between group therapy, ceremonial magic, a séance, a circle jerk and a quilting bee." Queer Spirits explores all five performances in five chapters of photographic essays, primarily by Bronson, together with a brilliant and frequently humorous reflection on queer animals, forest rangers, shamanism and park sex by Peter Hobbs. A series of drawings by Chicago artist Elijah Burgher completes the volume. Published with CreativeTime.
Plug In Editions (04/2011) 176 pp col. ill. 10 x 8 in hardcover 978-1-928570-14-1 $34.95 Can. $39.95 U.S. (28 €)
Art Metropole: The Top 100
Kitty Scott, Jonathan Shaughnessy, Peggy Gale & AA Bronson
Founded in 1974 by artist group General Idea, Art Metropole was
one of the first artist-run centres in Canada as well as one of
the first to collect and preserve international art ephemera from
the 1960s on. These rare multiples, mail art pieces, artist's
books and audio works by major figures such as Maria Abramovic,
Christian Boltanski, Chris Burden and John Cage, are now housed in
the National Gallery of Canada. From the collection of over 13,000
items, one hundred have been chosen to illustrate a movement and a
time. Among the writers, Peggy Gale provides a history of both Art
Metropole and General Idea. AA Bronson, co-founder of General
Idea, offers a text generated from the alphabetical checklist of
'The Top 100'. The artist uses both objects and people as starting
points for anecdotal and personal commentaries on individual works
and artists. This singular publication is an essential resource
for students, teachers and anyone interested in the origins of
National Gallery of Canada (12/2006) 140 pp 100 ill. 9 x 7 in
softcover 9-780888-848215 $32.00 Can./U.S. (26 €)