Paperback. Condition: Very Good. First Edition; First Printing. B&W and Color Photographs; 8.5 - 9" tall; 124 pages; 1976 Ballantine Books. A Tree Communications Edition. Oversize paperback. Snugly bound and clean in glossy pictorial covers. Light shelf/handling wear to the cover edges and spine; mild stress crease at center of binding. Contents clean, bright, and unmarked. Mainly illustrations in B&W and color photographs with brief description of erotic crafts in textile, ceramics, metals, wood, glass and others. Includes three pages of brief biographies of the contributing artisans and artisans. There are also some photos of the artists at work. Based on blog entries around the web this is still seen as the consummate erotic craft show. Levines succinct two page introduction describes both the practical aspects of picking the objects for inclusion as well as the social basis for having brought together the show in the first place. From the editor s introduction: When it came to selecting the crafts that would finally appear in the book first the pieces had to embody eroticism whether strongly provocative or only subtly suggestive. Some works were experiments in sensuality, blending the tactile quality of the craft medium with the erotic subject matter to create objects that begged to be fondled. Others were of a more cerebral nature. Our second criterion was that the object must be beautifully crafted. So often a good idea was heartbreakingly lost in amateurish execution. And finally, we sought objects that were amusing enough to make us smile (and sometimes laugh) at their charm or audacity. Sex, after all, can be delightful, and we sought to reflect this throughout the book. From the jacket: Hardcore crafts is a bold display of the finest work in the genre, the brilliant expression frankly sexual of our best craftspeople, exploring and exploding old taboos in new and exciting ways. (more photos available)
