Do or DIY at the Whitechapel Gallery, London

information as material's new exhibition, Do or DIY, has opened at the Whitechapel Gallery in London.

Do or DIY is the culmination of a productive 12 month long residency at the Whitechapel Gallery for the Yorkshire-based artists' publishing imprint. The Whitechapel is a world leading contemporary visual art gallery in London's East End, and has held major exhibitions of work by leading contemporary artists ever since it opened its doors in 1901. 

We've been working with information as material since we produced their last major exhibition, The Perverse Library, in 2010 and we have been proud to be able to support this latest exhibition. Back in 2010, when The Independent invited us to select ten of the top 50 UK museums and galleries, the Whitechapel was in our top three places to visit. Having 'one of our own' exhibited there is a serious cause of celebration - massive congratulations to the team at information as material.

Here's the exhibition info, as published by the Whitechapel:

Writers’ collective information as material present their two part introduction to the concealed history of do-it-yourself publishing, as undertaken by some of the most renowned writers in Western literature. Their essay Do or DIY runs around the two galleries. Part one, titled ‘History,’ is a collection of anecdotes about literary icons who published their own works. Part two, titled ‘Praxis,’ champions new approaches to writing for the digital future of publishing. A pocketbook version of the essay, published by the group, is available to read now or take away.

Also on display are self-published works by Kathy Acker, Johanna Drucker, Ezra Pound, John Ruskin, Laurence Sterne and Virginia Woolf. Shown alongside them are mass-reproduced re-publications of their work, as well as fellow DIYers including Emily Dickinson, Martin Luther and Marcel Proust. 

The exhibition runs until 15 April 2012 at the Whitechapel Gallery, London. If you are passing the Whitechapel, please check the exhibition out. If you won't be but do have friends in the Big Smoke then please let them know to drop by.

If you do go, be sure to pick up a copy of the free pocketbook publication that accompanies the exhibition.

View the full collection of images from the iam Whitechapel residency in our Gallery, here.

Do or DIY - a new project announcement

We are pleased to announce that York based information as material, an artists collective that includes our very own Simon Zimmerman, have been offered a month long exhibition at one of the world's most prestigious contemporary art galleries, the Whitechapel.

The exhibition will consolidate a year long programme undertaken by information as material as the gallery's 'Writers in Residence', and will be based on an essay, entitled Do or DIY, written by information as material as the foreword to the 2011 London Art Book Fair.

Do or DIY uncovers a hidden history of DIY publishing that begins (in the essay, at least) with Laurence Sterne (1713-68) and ending (for now, at least) with Kathy Acker (1947-97). It concludes with call-to-action that captures the ethos of the forthcoming exhibition: "Don't wait for others to validate your ideas. Do it yourself."

In addition the exhibition, which will open in London in spring 2012, has been selected by the crowdfunding platform wedidthis.org.uk as one of the nine projects it will promote throughout January, with a fundraising target of £1,500. You can donate as little or as much as you like, but for donations over £50 people will receive a signed copy of the accompanying publication with a printed credit (Thanks to...), and for donations over £500 the publication will be hand-printed - only three of these will ever be made.

More to follow on the exhibition in February.