TO PURCHASE:
THE STREETS ARE VERY QUIET (signed + numbered artist’s book, edition of 150 copies) is $75, which includes domestic shipping/handling. For international shipping rates, please email markaddisonsmith@hotmail.com with inquiry.
Payment can be made through Venmo @Mark-Smith-1661 or PayPal to markaddisonsmith@hotmail.com (please select Sending to Friends and Family), and please include your mailing address. Thank you for your purchase.
ABOUT THE STREETS ARE VERY QUIET (ARTIST'S BOOK):
In a daily practice called You Look Like The Right Type, I’ve been listening in on other people's conversations and drawing their words—every single day since November 23, 2008—to create an ongoing archive of over 5,000 drawings. You Look Like The Right Type is powered by my love of typography, language, and line, and sourced in stolen moments of overheard, verbatim dialogue. The works on paper are hand-drawn, using India ink pen on Bristol board, and generated on the same day in which I capture the quote. I’ve never missed a day.
When the lockdown began at the start of the 2020 pandemic and my ability to overhear quotes—out in the wild and on the streets—ended, I invited people to have conversations with me remotely. Most of the conversations were held on Zoom with strangers and friends who inspired me (and continue to do so). 365 of those drawings are featured within this book.
BOOK SPECIFICATIONS:
9 x 6 x 2 inches, 448 pages, linen cloth on hardback case-binding, matte silver foil-stamping with debossed cover, digitally printed interior pages on Cougar 90# text with Smyth-sewn signatures, featuring 365 drawings sourced from conversations with 40 people during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Appendix includes follow-up interviews with subjects and artist interview with Steven Heller (reprinted from The Daily Heller, PRINT Magazine). Signed edition of 150 copies.
Printed at Fort Orange Press through a grant from the Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RF–CUNY).
THE STREETS ARE VERY QUIET INCLUDES DRAWN CONVERSATIONS WITH:
Jaime Nuñez del Arco (artist, editor, publisher) / Jamie Booth (hairstylist, salon owner) / Lady Bunny (drag artist) / Margaret Casey (grocery store manager) / Eric Cervini (writer, historian) / David Clarke (communications manager-turned-nutrition coach) / Michael Cook (fashion stylist) / Andrew Corzo (UPS driver) / BenDeLaCreme (drag artist) / Lydia Daum (designer, small-business owner) / Ashley Hairston Doughty (designer, professor) / Coral Gable (doula, hairstylist) / Jane Gagliardi (medical doctor) / Roxane Gay (writer, social commentator) / Erik Gernand (writer, filmmaker, professor) / Julia Gernand (nursing home patient) / Noah Ghasan (art director) / Shänna Gordon (former Wisconsinite) / Mark S. King (HIV/AIDS activist, writer) / John Turner Lane (art student) / McKenzie Lee (college graduate) / Harrison Lowe (high school student) / Ian Martin (second grader) / Dahlia Maubane (photographer) / Daniel Meza (linguist, waiter) / Debbie Millman (writer, designer, Design Matters host) / Dawn Okamoto (antique store owner) / Doro Otterman (author, illustrator) / Smarty Pants (balloon twister) / Henry Parham (nonprofit director) / Rhona Sawatsky (elementary school teacher) / Elaine Serrão-Twisterling (immunologist-turned-artist) / Elizabeth Stanley (Broadway lead) / Juraj Straka (cartoonist, textile designer) / Ricardo Useche (illustrator, parking attendant) / Michael Walters (stylist, interior designer) / Holly White (photography teacher)
WITH GREAT THANKS, THE STREETS ARE VERY QUIET IS INCLUDED WITHIN THE FOLLOWING PERMANENT COLLECTIONS & LIBRARY ARCHIVES:
Artexte / Art Gallery of Ontario / Carnegie Mellon University, Artists' Books Collection / Center for Book Arts, New York / Cleveland Institute of Art, Jessica R. Gund Memorial Library / Emory University, Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library / George Mason University, Fenwick Library Special Collections Research Center / Gerber Hart LGBTQIA+ Archives / John M. Flaxman Library at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago / Kansas City Art Institute, Artists' Books Collection / Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Special Collections / The Menil Collection / The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas J. Watson Library / Michigan State University Libraries, Special Collections / Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA) / Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Franklin Furnace Artists’ Books Collection / The Newberry Library, Rare Books Collection / ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the University of Southern California / Pratt Institute Franklin Furnace Artists’ Books Collection / Princeton Firestone Library, Graphic Arts Collection / Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Fleet Library Special Collections / University of Arizona, Special Collections / University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Arts Library / University of Dundee Museum Collections, Artists' Books Collection Dundee (abcD) / Walker Art Center, Archives & Library / Whitney Museum, The Frances Mulhall Achilles Library
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE DRAWINGS (and with special thanks to Steven Heller + PRINT Magazine):
The Daily Heller: Typographic Eavesdropping, by Steven Heller, May 4, 2020
The Daily Heller: Drawing to Manage Stress, by Steven Heller, July 1, 2022