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INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE APOCALYPSE: the latest addition to MBP Illustrated Fiction
October 1, 2009
Contact: Adri Cowan
Telephone: 347.830.6271
New York, NY – September 30, 2009 – Instructions for the Apocalypse fuses a collection of found photographs with the fictional account of one man’s descent into madness. Leaving “instructions” about living through an inevitable apocalypse for his estranged daughter Gareth Gray’s gloss of the last 200 years dissects the industrial military complex, technology and religion with a voice as original as the book’s use of photography and graphic design.
In Gray’s words: “I was brought up a nice lad. Nice thoughts always tried to catch up with the nasty ones and shoulder them out of the way . . . That’s what you’re seeing here, after all. Somewhere there is a little fire of love and hope maybe in a mother or a father and these boys can feel it sometimes on their backs. That’s something we’re conditioned to imagine. It’s a vision we’re conditioned to cherish. I don’t feel that anymore.”
Photographer Tim Williams and writer Rod Sweet, with support from The Arts Council of Wales, joined forces with words, contemporary design and late Victorian and early Edwardian photographs, resulting in a book that resists the cliché tropes such imagery typically inspires. The story exists as much in the imagery as in the text, providing snapshots of a fictional family and the all too real aspects of our times.
Integrated illustrative content in novels has been going on since the release of Laurence Sterne’s Tristram Shandy in the eighteenth century, but the rising trend of small and large publishers releasing such titles stems from our multimedia culture. Instructions for the Apocalypse is the latest MBP Illustrated Fiction, which feature narratives that rely equally on illustrations and text. Other titles include A Field Guide to the North American Family and The Inner Life of Martin Frost.
About Mark Batty Publisher
Mark Batty Publisher (http://www.markbattypublisher.com) is an independent publisher dedicated to making distinctive books on the visual art of communicating, showcasing the visual power and innovation of contemporary culture in all of its varied poses. Today, the visual comes at us from more places than ever, and its dissemination is faster and more advanced every year. Books from Mark Batty Publisher capture this acceleration on the pages of every book. Affordable, well designed, thoughtfully created, and produced to last, MBP books are artful products that readers want to hold onto forever.
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Instructions for the Apocalypse
Rod Sweet & Tim Williams
Page Count: 128
Size: 7 x 9 inches
Format: Casebound
Publication Date: September 2009
Price: $24.95
ISBN: 978-0-9817805-8-0
For a review copy, more information, or to schedule an interview with Rod Sweet & Tim Williams or any of the contributing artists, contact Adri Cowan, +1 347.830.6271, adri@markbattypublisher.com
