STARTING WITH THE TITLE $19.84, William Wegman pokes fun at life in the ’80s—of course, everything that used to cost $5.00 (like artists’ publications) now costs $19.84. Actually his book costs $10.00 and this is cheap, really, for what’s inside. One example to suggest the rest: Foster Parents, 1984, is a Polaroid photo of a small girl holding the hand of a woman draped in tiger-striped fabric, who in turn is standing next to a man draped in giraffe-patterned fabric except the spots are black. Get it? OK let’s try another one. How about a line drawing in black and white of a grown man and a boy. Written next to the man: “Over 30 and never has to shave can’t get served has to have his son get beer.” Written next to the son: “Only 6 and has to shave.” The boy is carrying a six-pack of Bud. Some of these pages are hysterically funny to some people, others are funny to others. In the postliterate ’80s, William Wegman can make you laugh.
William Wegman, $19.84, (Buffalo: C.E.P.A.), 16 pp., 8 black and white illustrations, 15 color photographs.
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Martha Wilson is a performance artist who directs Franklin Furnace, the museum for artists’ publications that she founded in 1976; she is a member of Disband.
