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Design Category
Book design, 1999
Design firm
Shiffman Design (Santa Monica, California)
Collection
(2000) 50 Books/50 Covers of 1999
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The art of Bruce and Norman Yonemoto challenges us to look beyond the appearance of things, whether the myths of Hollywood, the illusory qualities of memory or the materiality of film. Since 1976, the brothers have created an extensive body of film, single channel video installations and objects that explore the creation of meaning through filmic representation and analyze mass media’s hold on our perceptions of personal identity. The Japanese American National Museum presented this catalogue as an accompaniment to an ambitious contemporary art exhibition for the inaugural opening of its new museum building in January 1999. The presentation of the Yonemoto’s work in this book edition engages the viewer’s imagination in an exploration of their cinematic works within the parameters inherent to the opaque, static surface of the print medium. Strategically captured frame sequences have been synchronized with the essays as sound to film. In this format, the stories unfold in fragments, encouraging the possibility for a creative narrative interpretation, while avoiding the predictable definitions suggested by a layout with orthodox visual annotations to text.