Isolarii
Isolarii, stylized as isolarii, is an avant-garde media company founded by Sebastian Clark with India Ennenga.[1] Launched in September 2020, the company is known for the palm-sized format of its books as well as its array of international writers and political activity.[2]
| Status | Active |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Sebastian Clark, India Ennenga |
| Distribution | Worldwide |
| Official website | https://isolarii.com/ |
History
Its name originates from the Venetian tradition of 'island books.'[2] Clark was first inspired to launch the company in 2013, when a friend sent him René Daumal’s book Mount Analogue, while working at a smartphone factory in China.[3][4]
In October 2020, Isolarii published F Letter: New Russian Feminist Poetry, which became a symbol for anti-government protests in Russia.[5]
In April 2021, Isolarii released Street Cop by Robert Coover and Art Spiegelman, in part as a response to the United States Capitol attack. The New York Times described it as a “palm-sized lark”[6] and Michael Silverblatt called it “a secret book.” [7]
In March 2022, "The War Diary of Yevgenia Belorusets," a daily dispatch from Kyiv at 4 pm, garnered international attention and was adapted into a podcast episode for This American Life.[8]
Critical response
Dominick Ammirati wrote in Artforum that “the press has succeeded at imbuing the book form with the psychophysical qualities of a mala, a rosary, kombolói, a smartphone—objects that you pick up and feel almost anxious letting go of.”[2]
Isolarii has been compared to Hanuman Books[9] and described by Hans Ulrich Obrist as an “ingenious book club.”[10]
Books
- In The Face of War: Ukraine 2022 by Yevgenia Belorusets, Nikita Kadan and Lesia Khomenko
- The Archipelago Conversations by Édouard Glissant and Hans Ulrich Obrist
- Modern Animal by Yevgenia Belorusets
- Street Cop by Robert Coover and Art Spiegelman
- Purple Perilla by Can Xue
- F Letter: New Russian Feminist Poetry, ed. Galina Rymbu, Eugene Ostashevsky, and Ainsley Morse
- Salmon: A Red Herring by Cooking Sections
References
- Clavarino, Elena (April 2, 2022). "India Ennenga and Sebastian Clark: The duo sending pocket-size books — collaborations with artists and writers — to people around the world". Airmail News (142).
- Ammirati, Domenick. "Domenick Ammirati on Isolarii". www.artforum.com.
- Xue, Can (February 12, 2021). "I Hope You Can Help Me Take Care of These Ants in the City". Garage.
- Clavarino, Elena (April 2, 2022). "India Ennenga and Sebastian Clark: The duo sending pocket-size books — collaborations with artists and writers — to people around the world". Airmail News (142).
- "Russian protest poetry and the rise of Galina Rymbu".
- Park, Ed (October 8, 2021). "How Comics Responded to Our Locked-Down, Anxious Covid Lives" – via NYTimes.com.
- "Michael Silverblatt's favorite books of 2021". KCRW. December 7, 2021.
- "The Other Front Lines". This American Life. April 22, 2022.
- Brazil, David (February 10, 2022). "Édouard Glissant Sought to Undermine the European Ideological Underpinnings of Colonization". Hyperallergic.
- "Kunstnotizen von Hans Ulrich Obrist – Der geniale Buchclub". Berner Zeitung.