12. METHODOLOGIE
Merrill Wagner: Public & Private is a permanent record of a fine artist’s ephemeral work in 20 years of outdoor projects—ones in public, like college campuses, and private pieces, as in the artist’s own backyard. “It was Merrill’s idea to combine two bodies of work under the title Public & Private,” explains Methodologie principal Anne Traver, “We thought that two books in one slipcase would be more interesting than one bigger book with two sections, and this way, each book can stand alone or be part of a set. Printing in Asia made the slipcase production very affordable.”

The objective was to reveal Wagner’s work—the understated attitude and a bit of the temporal experience of viewing it. Many of these artworks are outdoor paintings concerned with the altering affects of time, and so the books are comprised of sequential images of the same pieces. The design stays in the background, not competing for attention, allowing for a nice rhythm in the repetition of the photos, punctuated occasionally with visual surprises like fold-out and tipped-in pages or full-bleed images. “Merrill is a close friend, and we have made five books together. It’s a very collaborative and organic process. I view Methodologie’s role as giving an appropriate physical form that allows the art to be seen and experienced as Merrill intended,” says Traver.
Terry Lee Stone