Messages from Home, 1994

This book is a catalogue for a solo exhibition that was cancelled. The images come from work scheduled to be exhibited at a gallery in Amsterdam’s red-light district. Armstrong’s intent was to provide the viewer with an experience of the show and a feel for its location, thus the inclusion of subtle pornographic images printed in red strips, eventually revealing the gallery’s street address.  Found images, photographs, and photo-collages—often layered—work together, drawing the viewer into a kind of dark journey. The experience differs each time this journey is undertaken. The cover—a collage of pulp, rust, and film—gives the book the feeling of a relic or historical document. 

  • Edition of 40 variable copies, signed and numbered 

  • Case: sandblasted plastic 

  • Cover: rust, paper fiber, transparent film in vinyl sleeve
    Inside: transparent film, translucent paper and coated laser paper 

  • Size: 9″ × 11.5″

Even though the exhibition was never held, the informative essay by Cassandra Langer provides documentation of each piece as well as this general statement:

“At first glance, it would appear that Sara Garden Armstrong’s art is mechanized and highly technical—a product of industry not nature. However, upon more careful consideration, one realizes that the work is quite organic, relying heavily upon intuition and metaphysical ecology. These works reflect an admixture of experiences that run the gamut from the ominous, fantastic, nostalgic, and pleasurable, to the sexually provocative.” - Cassandra Langer