Evidence of the Hand in Art/Life in Light of the Livre D’Artiste

ABSTRACT This essay dwells upon the human hand, on its evidence in pages of Art/Life. ‘Evidence of the Hand’ is a motif in publisher Joe Cardella’s personal artwork, both on and off Art/Life pages. Examining a few key dimensions of this motif, we first discuss the hand’s appearance in all of Volume 1 (1981), as well as in selected instances throughout later issues. Second, we linger on Art/Life’s earliest collages as art’s high-brow ‘aura’ took a hit with printing technology’s first democratic offering to artists. Following a natural progression, we then turn our attention to Art/Life as democratic medium, focusing on an international mail art project. This essay then closes this treatment with a zoom-in on first and last anniversary issues. The only issue ever boxed, the November/December issue of Volume One allowed for an explosion of artistic and material possibilities, leading the transformation of Art/Life from two-dimensional Xerox-based zine to multi-media artist-book collected and archived by the world’s leading academic and art institutions. This development culminated in Art/Life’s 25th Anniversary Issue.