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Grady Harp, December 26, 2007 (view all comments by Grady Harp)
'into something rich and strange...'

XIU XIU may not be a name known to many but it is the moniker of a difficult to define performance group - an art-rock experimental indiepop band - that varies in performance ideas as much as the wind that seems top drive them around. 'XIU XIU: THE POLAROID PROJECT/the book' is a successful attempt to capture that part of the group that is accessible - the physical experience of traveling around on tour with a fascinating group of artists. A fan of the group, David Horovitz, devised this idea: 'I offered anyone attending the shows the opportunity to have Polaroids shot during the current tour mailed to them. For no extra cost if they brought a box of Polaroid film and an envelope with stamps to the shows, I took the photographs, sealed them in their envelopes, and dropped them in a mailbox.' This 'project' resulted in about 1800 Polaroids, many of them floating around the world, but a number of them are contained in this strange but simple and honest album.

The beautifully designed book, from the blind embossed cardboard cover imprinted with an actual Polaroid image to the generous, clean pages each reserved for only one Polaroid at a time, is so honest in its content that it becomes an art object rather than a journeyman's diary. The images vary from shots of sky to cats at play to funky opened luggage to landscapes to many photographs of the band members. They are not posed, but instead are surprisingly spontaneous, an aspect of the photography that makes each composition extraordinary. The collection is not meant to make sense but rather to appeal to the imagination, the raw senses, much the way the bands performances vary from stage to stage.

Included with the book is a CD 'A Soundtrack for a Polaroid of Two Trees in Indiana', mastered by Jherek Bishoff with field recordings collected by David Horvitz from North American tours in 2006 and 2007. This inclusion along with the many notes spread throughout the book give those of us who are strangers to Xiu Xiu an introduction that is pure seduction! This is a terrific 'art work' of a book and represents a fascinating performance ensemble that doubtless will become better known after readers enjoy 'the book'. Grady Harp

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780979048654

Subtitle:

The Polaroid Project: The Book [With CD]

Author:

Horvitz, David

Publisher:

Mark Batty Publisher

Subject:

Genres & Styles - Rock

Subject:

Instant photography.

Subject:

Xiu Xiu (Musical group)

Subject:

General

Publication Date:

December 2007

Binding:

Hardcover

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Y

Pages:

126

Dimensions:

7.77x6.83x.62 in. .99 lbs.