Inspired by the cover designs of popular “egghead” novels published from the 1940s to the 1970s, the colorful geometric forms of Thomas Raat’s abstract paintings appropriate those forms in the context of contemporary publishing. This elegant artist’s book is a work of art in itself, with rich full-color plates, Chinese folding and varying folio sizes. The artist’s repurposing of the imagery of the paperback jackets mediates the outlandish range of synthetic emotions from the titles they were meant to convey (such as “the law of civilization and decay”). An essay by American critic John C. Welchman situates Raat’s work in the reassessment of nonfigurative art’s potential in the mid-century period—from Abstract Expressionism to advertising material. Now in its second printing, the publication was awarded an honorary mention at the Best Book Design contest in Leipzig 2013 for its design by Mainstudio. - RAM Publications