 Anansi Company By Ron King and Roy Fisher London: Circle Press, 1992. Edition of 130. 45 x 34 x11cm. Made up of 15 colorful unbound sections with thirteen screen printed removable wire and card puppets. All loosely inserted into card wraparound and held in large colour-blocked solander box. Each book involved over 500 hand workings. Introduction and accompanying verse printed letter-press in 14 & 18 pt Walbaum. This is the seventh collaboration of King & Fisher. The content was derived from Walter Jekyll's 'Jamaican Song & Story 1907,' a contemporary rendering of some familiar tales central to Caribbean culture, brought by slaves from Africa, concerning Anansi the spiderman and his company of friends. "The Artist Turns to the Book", Getty.edu: " In Anansi Company Ronald King created 13 silk-screened pages featuring large removable puppets. In a format similar to a pop-up book, it enlists viewers' participation. Working with King, Roy Fisher derived the text, written in verse in Jamaican English, from material collected by Walter Jekyll for his book Jamaican Song and Story (English Folklore Society, 1907). "The bright colors and anthropomorphic animals suggest a lighthearted story, but King uses them here to create a sophisticated underworld with messages about contemporary consumerism, political issues, and deceit." |