By Don Celender
self-published, 1979
Pages: 80
Dimensions: 8.5" x 11"
Cover: soft
Binding: staple-bound
Process: offset
Color: black ink
Edition size: unknown
ISBN: none

When Don Celender died in 2005, he left behind an unusually focused and accessible body of work that is ripe for rediscovery. Younger generations and those who did not see his solo exhibitions (almost all presented in New York), or have yet to encounter his books (mostly self-published and hard to find) are unfamiliar with this underrated Conceptual artist.

Celender lived most of his life in St. Paul, Minnesota where he taught Art History and chaired the Art department at Macalester College for over forty years. Celender's books and exhibits most frequently took the form of collected results from surveys. These surveys, often printed on official Macalester College stationary, were primarily conducted through the mail. Despite a great deal of writing about social practices and participatory artworks in recent years, mentions of Don Celender’s many survey projects, all dependent on the voices and participation of others, are absent from this critical discourse. Rather than taking his Ph.D. and retreating into the most obscure recesses of research and academia, Celender often used his deep knowledge of art history and his concern with art’s place in society to create a playful and humorous engagement with art and culture that could be accessible to a broad range of readers.

Don Celender is the subject of the first exhibition at Public Collectors Study Center, a space created by Marc from Temporary Services and Half Letter Press. More information on that here: http://www.publiccollectors.org/

We were able to get a hold of some uncirculated new copies of two of Celender's self-published artist books to sell for a very reasonable price. These are unlikely to be reprinted and when we run out it's doubtful we'll be able to get more. One copy of each title per customer please.

National Architects Preference Survey is a compilation of the most complete responses to a survey sent to 1,000 American architects asking: “If you were to advise students of architecture to see one significant structure in the world that would be the most inspiring and instructive for their future careers, which structure would you recommend?” Impressively, 32% of those contacted responded. The book includes portraits of each respondent, a photo of their selection, or, for those that refused to choose one significant structure, a photo of one of the respondent’s own buildings.