Tuesday 11 March 2008

New Book - Headroom

The book is a visual response to the drive to fit more and more people into an ever diminishing space. The U.K is under pressure to find more housing and every patch of land, including gardens,are being built upon. New housing is tightly packed with little concern for the environment or the needs of the new residents. Whilst reading Roget's Thesaurus, I noticed the thematic listing of words was taking on a poetic significance, I used the word lists in the order they appeared in the Thesaurus to convey a sense of melancholy amongst the crowds. The book is printed on accounting paper to show financial pressures, the drawings are a mixture of my photographs of buildings and drawings of imaginary future towers, unintentionally imprisoning their tenants. The text is rubber stamped. 
290mm x 110mm. 14 pages with ending with edition number, signature and maker's emboss. 
To view this book visit my website at: http://www.dampflat.com/DAMPFLAT/books/headroom/index.htm

Now touring the U.S. as part of the
Shelter Artist's Book Exhibition.
  • April 10 - 22, 2008 - Wedeman Gallery, Yamawaki Art and Cultural Center, Lasell College, Newton, MA, USA
  • May 9 - June 19, 2008 - Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, Silver Spring, MD, USA
  • July 9 - August 15, 2008 - Fleet Library, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI, USA
  • Oct 6 – 31, 2008 - Montserrat College of Art’s 301 Gallery, 301 Cabot Street, Beverly, MA, USA
  • April 8 - May 3, 2009 - Wells College, Aurora, NY, USA
  • January - February 2009 - Holy Cross College Art Gallery, Worcester, MA, USA



Saturday 1 March 2008

New Book - Reboot

Reboot - Limited Edition of 10, Brighton 2008




400mm x 170mm, a double spiral-bound pair of books each of 20 pages
The cover is clear acrylic closed with magnetic catches
Hand-cut rubberstamp icons are added to final printed pages
Several real capacitors and fuses are threaded into two of the pages






This is a book about computers. Do they really hate us? Why are computers so indignant when you want to open files, rewarding your impetuousness with spinning balls and hourglass icons. This is a book about technological brokenness. We rely more and more on technology and computers, ignoring the fact that there seems to be a mechanical revolt gradually gathering pace all around us - soon the only tasks left for us will be hand-drawing the Out of Order signs to hang on the machines. Over a period of time, I’ve been recording technology failures photographically as well as drawing the language of brokenness, cryptic messages such as, disc error and are you sure you want to shut-down?
I've combined my photographs and drawings into this pair of books, added to this hand-cut rubber stamps of familiar computer icons - hourglass, watch, cursor arrow and older legacy icons such as the floppy disk. Scanned legacy peripherals such as scsi leads and old network cables tangle across the pages, to remind us just how fast technology is moving.
The books work as a pair and should be opened and read simultaneously.



To View this book in more detail visit:
http://www.dampflat.com/DAMPFLAT/books/reboot/index.htm

This book was created for the Re:2008 Exhibition held by the We Love Your Books Collective
The exhibition will start at:
Artworks MK, Milton Keynes, UK from 14th July–14th Aug. 2008
The Gallery, Herefordshire College of Art – Summer 2008
The Space Gallery, University of Portsmouth from 3rd-14th Nov. 2008
Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK. Dec. 2008

Reboot is also held in:

Modern British Collections, The British Library, London, UK
The Ministry of Books, University of portsmouth, UK



    Friday 22 February 2008

    Zineopolis Exhibition

    Zineopolis Exhibition - 22nd February - 14th March 2008
    The University Library, University of Portsmouth, UK


    New zine collection a the University called Zineopolis will be showcasing its collection - Including all the 
    Future Fantasteeks! 
    www.zineopolis.co.uk

     



    Friday 1 February 2008

    Future Fantasteek! Issue No.4

    ISSUE FOUR : FEBRUARY 2008
    ...Sick-O Issue



    Softback Zine printed in greyscale on orange and yellow paper, staple bound.
    A5 size containing 16 printed pages. Day-glo orange cover with yellow dots.
    Issue Four: Brighton 2008, edition size of fifty.


    The Damp Flat Research team are wondering why eveyone's so sick lately. They are also quickly investing, on-the-side, in the pharmaceutical industry. What with Norovirus and advice on how to take a 'sickie' there seems to be no healthy folk left. This issue also includes how to spot whether you have ended-up working for the Departement of Stupidity and the right way to wash your hands. I would write more, but I'm feeling off-colour and need to lay down... 



    To view this zine in more detail go here...
    http://www.dampflat.com/DAMPFLAT/books/zines/future4/index.htm


    Or to flick through this zine on Issuu go here:
    http://issuu.com/futurefantasteek/docs/ff4

    Thursday 20 September 2007

    The British Library now has copies of Damp Flat Books

    The whole Damp Flat Collection can now be viewed at The British Library. The library has recently purchased a copy of each title for their Modern British Collections section.
    The British Library
    96 Euston Rd
    London NW1 2DB

    There is also a link to this website from the British Library's 
    Fine Presses, Artists' Books, and Book Arts website
    http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpsubject/artarchperf/art/finepressesartistsbooksandbookarts/finepresses.html

    Thursday 2 August 2007

    The Blue Notebook - Guest Artist

    The Blue Notebook - peer reviewed journal about artists' books.
    Edited by Sarah Bodman - August 2007 issue.



    I was invited to produce an Artist’s Page - Evil-Pet Shop


    In each issue 5 artists are asked to provide an artist's page. The content of the page is entirely open and can be text, image or both. The only stipulation is that it needs to be A4 portrait, RGB colour, saved as a jpeg or pdf at 300dpi. 
    The Blue Notebook is produced as a full colour pdf and also a black and white printed magazine.

    Tuesday 10 July 2007

    Future Fantasteek! Issue No.3

    ISSUE THREE : JULY 2007
    ...Carbon Footprint Issue 


    Softback Zine printed in greyscale on yellow paper, staple bound with central section in colour. 

    A5 size containing 16 printed pages. Bronze cover with dye cut shape.
    Issue three: Brighton 2007, edition size of fifty.

    Once again, the Damp Flat Research team share their fantastic inventions, ideas and advice.
    The evil central colour pull-out has a mirror where you can see your evil twin or simply worry more with the new Damp Worry Doll

    There are inventions to help you spot a bad idea; pretend to talk like a grown-up or slow yourself down to avoid having to do anything.
    That and so much more - are you really being watched? 



    To view this zine in more detail visit:

    Or to flick through online visit issuu at:

    Future Fantasteek! will soon available from:
    PURE GROOVE Music Store, 679 Holloway Road, London N19 5SE, UK

    Friday 6 July 2007

    Sitting Room - Exhibition

    Sitting Room Exhibition has continued on to Winchester Gallery at Winchester School of Art.
    The show opens on 6th July, with a private view on 11th July, and runs until 2nd August 2007.
    Anxious Homes from Damp Flat Books is part of the group show, see 2006 news below for more details about this exhibition. 
    http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/sitting07.htm












    Wednesday 4 July 2007

    Damp Flat Books feature in lecture.

    ARLIS/UK and Ireland Annual Conference‘Useful and; Beautiful? Supporting the Arts and Crafts in the 21st Century’
    Park Campus, University of Gloucestershire, Cheltenham, Wednesday 4th July – Friday 6th July 2007. Damp Flat Books are featured in, Page on Page – an overview of Contemporary British and Irish Artists’ Books, a talk given by Sarah Bodman.

    Sunday 1 July 2007

    New Book - Mortal Coil



    11” (28cm) width x 4” (10.5cm) height x ½” (1cm) thickness – approx.



    Unfolded each page is 15” long (39cm)
    Heavy grey millboard covers.
    Wire binding in dark green.
    Nine pages, eight of which fold-out, printed on 130gsm cartridge paper
    Trace fly-leaf, title of book on embossed vertical belly-band, numbered and signed in an edition of ten, made in Brighton, United Kingdom 2007

    Much of my previous work has centred around themes of advertising and anxiety, recently I have been experimenting with photo collage and hand drawn typography. I usually write my own texts, but your exhibition requirements were really interesting - affording me the opportunity to explore some new literature. In response to a forthcoming exhibition in Kentucky I started to explore the visual possibilities of the poems of Robert Penn Warren. I’ve based my book Mortal Coil on the poem, Mortal Limit by Robert Penn Warren.

    The text of the poem is split into 7 sections, hand drawn typographically to emphasise key words. The typography sits above photo collages (taken in the South of England) exploring the melancholy of the landscape as it metamorphoses from undeveloped ruralscapes into urban jungles. Themes of urban decay and environmental issues are very much in focus in Britain at the moment, and it was fascinating in the poem to have aspirational descriptions of the landscape tinged with the failings of the human spirit. The book is designed to have folding pages that when opened-up reveal darker elements from the previous page. The symbol of the hawk is a reminder of the source of the text,
    a favourite motif of the poet.
    My book both begins and ends with the image of the hawk (a familiar icon within Penn Warren's work). The colours in the book change from greens through to blacks and reds as the threat to the landscape is realised. The book is created using a combination of photoshop, digital photography, hand drawn typography, quarkxpress and illustrator.

    The title Mortal Coil derives from an archaic English expression (still in use) meaning the ‘troubles of the world’ – popularised by Shakespeare in Hamlet.


    This book was created for the exhibition:



    Visions and Voices: Art Inspired by Kentucky Poetry, Prose and Songwriting
    7th July - 6th October 2007
    Kentucky Museum of Art and Craft
    Louisville. KY 40202
    USA

    Wednesday 27 June 2007

    V&A Museum Interview Damp Flat Books

    The V&A website had just been updated and now you can read interviews with me and 5 other bookartists. You can view the majority of my books in the V&A Museum collection.

    see their website for information about accessing their fantastic collection:http://www.vam.ac.uk/page/a/artists-books/


    To read the interview with Damp Flat Books follow this link:http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/artists-books-interviews/



    Saturday 2 June 2007

    Zineopolis Founded!

    I've just set up a new Zine Collection at the University of Portsmouth, through the Illustration Course. The collection is called ZINEOPOLIS, and it links to student projects making zines and comics. Have a look at our new website, it will build-up over time, but this is the first peek...
    www.zineopolis.co.uk

    Zineopolis opened in June 2007 after a group zine project from first year Illustration Degree students at the University of Portsmouth. The zines and comics produced are archived in this site along with zines donated to us and ones specially purchased for the collection. Over the years we hope to build-up a representative collection of zines - we are focussing on zines heavy with visual content.

    We wanted to reflect the diversity of thought and talent that exists outside traditional publishing. Zines are one of the few areas left where creative people can speak without censorship. This make the world of zines new and exciting as well as challenging. Commercial art is changing rapidly, with over reliance on clip-art images and images that exist to simply
    dress-up yet another advert, for yet another 'must-have' product. So, what do visual people make and say when they are given a free-hand?
    You'll find it here - amongst zines.
    The nature of production, often cheap and quick, means these zines reflect the thoughts and hopes of the day (quite literally). We are focussing upon image-heavy zines, here in the School of Art and Design. The emergence of zines means that contrary to popular thought, young people (and older ones) have plenty to say about the world they find themselves in, and not as passively as one may expect. The culture of zines shows us that people do still have opinions, it also shows us that traditional conduits for sharing thoughts are probably not as accessible as we'd like within our celebrity obsessed media. It's great to witness the self-publishing boom!


    Go on! Make a zine 
    draw what's on your mind, then send us a copy...
     
    Zineopolis
    School of Art, Design & Media

    Eldon Building (third floor) 
    University of Portsmouth
    Winston Churchill Avenue
    Portsmouth
    Hampshire PO1 2DJ


    Thursday 1 March 2007

    New Book - Damp In Ditchwater

    Postcard souvenir booklet. First edition of twenty - Brighton UK
    Heavy yellow card cover with shaped edge, printed in either, dark-orange or pale-turquoise.
    Introduction page followed by 10 detachable heavyweight colour postcards with tissue interleaves. One card contains a tipped-in stamp and handwritten salute.

    "A charming history - told through postcards - of the philanthropic, family-run Damp Industries’
    partnership with the sleepy town of Ditchwater-by-Sea. Damp Industries’ self-appointed mission, is to strive until culture, learning and suitable products reside in the South."

    In this sequence of ten postcards the intriguing relationship between Damp
    and Ditchwater-by-Sea is slowly revealed.


    • What happened on the opening day at the Damp Museum? 
    • Who wears the Cod-Sash? 
    • Why is the curator missing? 


    This book has grown out my fascination for less-than-exciting museums. I particularly enjoy the secondhand mannequins with scuffed noses and displays that have been gathering dust for years. I make a point of searching out the least-popular tourist attractions, in the hope of finding a display of manky plastic fruit or - my favourite - a historical family diorama. The trend in swish, technologically interactive museums are fine for children, but the creepy dank interiors of the deserted local museum are my delight. I have been recording these museum interiors for a number of years in the hope of celebrating these fast-disappearing gems. The second-rate displays often reveal an 'any old rubbish for the tourists' attitude that is sharper than any deliberate satire.

    The narrative behind
    Damp in Ditchwater is the story of an unscruplous company that, hounded out of its own country, has started over again in England. The clash of values, along with the townsfolk's desperation to 'be put on the map' reveals itself through the comments on the reverse of the postcards. Starting slight but getting more and more vocal until there is little room to actually write a message on the postcard. The Damp employees and Ditchwater townsfolk have an uneasy alliance, where both are grittedly out-for-themselves.


    To see this book in more detail visit:




    Exhibitions:


    The Southern Cross University Acquisitive Artsits’ Book Award is coordinated by the SCU nextart Gallery, 89 Magellan Street, Lismore, NSW, Australia.
    Now in it’s 5th year this annual award provides Southern Cross University with an opportunity to continue to develop an artists’ book collection of national significance and in so doing also contribute to the development and awareness of artists’ books as an art form.
    Exhibition opening & announcement of acquisitions August 11 - exhibition continues to September 22.
    Damp in Ditchwater has been selected for this exhibition.


    Place, Identity and Memory – books made by artists
    Opens 23 May to 28 June 2009, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, Scotland.
    Then the exhibition tours libraries and other venues across Dumfries and Galloway, ending at Stranraer Museum, 55 George Street, Stranraer, DG9 7JP, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland between the 26th September – 31st October 2009, to coincide with the annual Literary Festival at nearby Wigtown, Scotland’s Book Town. This is a travelling exhibition by IRIS. The aim of IRIS is to develop Dumfries and Galloway as a recognised centre for book arts in Scotland and internationally.
    Headroom
     and Damp in Ditchwater both feature in the exhibition and catalogue.

    Scheduled to appear in the November-December issue of the Book Arts Newsletter No.31, UWE, Bristol, UK 


    Babylon Lexicon - New Orleans, 14-30 Nov. 2008
    Damp in Ditchwater
     and Headroom will be on show at the New Orleans Bookfair - Babylon Lexicon. - Future Fantasteek! Issue No.5 will also be exhibited, at the same time, during the New Orleans Zine Fair.


    Re: 2008 The Gallery, The University of Northampton, Monday 12th – Thursday 29th May 2008
    New book - Reboot has just been completed and accepted for the exhibition Re: 2008, Damp in Ditchwater joins the exhibition as part of The Ministry of Books Show.
    Venues:
    ....The Gallery, The University of Northampton, Avenue Campus, St. George's Avenue, Northampton, NN2 6JD, UK.
    ....Artworks MK, Milton Keynes, UK from 14th July–14th August;
    ....Herefordshire College of Art – Summer 2008;
    ....The Space Gallery, University of Portsmouth from 3rd-14th November 2008.

    ....
    Quay Arts, Newport, Isle of Wight, UK

    Collections:

    • The Modern British Collections, The British Library, London, UK
    • Center for Fine Print Research, UWE Bristol, UK
    • Hyman Kretiman Research Library at Tate Britain, Millbank, London, UK
    • The Old School Press, Hinton Charterhouse, Bath, UK
    • The Culture Archive, Brighton, UK
    • The Ministry of Books, Portsmouth, UK

    Thursday 1 February 2007

    Future Fantasteek! Issue No.2

    ISSUE TWO : FEBRUARY 2007
    ...Comfort & Security Issue
    Softback Zine printed in greyscale on fluorescent pink paper, staple bound.
    A5 size containing 16 printed pages. Pearl grey/pink cover with 2 glitter shapes.
    Issue two: Brighton 2007, edition size of fifty.

    The second outing for the Damp Research Laboratory - once the staff were hastily re-hired.
    Marvel at the Negativity Negator; find out why "NO" is better than "yes".
    Ever wondered why everything is always out of order? Let the Entropy-Go-Round inform you.
    How useful is Vitamin O? And another incite Masked-Cat truism for your delectation..

    To view this zine in more detail follow this link:

    ...Meanwhile, Future Fantasteek!, Issue One, has just joined 3 new collections, 
    • The Mansfield Library - Zine Collection, at the University of Montana-Missoula, USA, 
    • the Papercut Zine Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. 
    • The zine collection at the University of Austin, Texas, USA.


    Arcadia id Est - Exhibition is now touring during 2007:

    Arcadia id Est is on touring in 2007:
    Feb 1st - Feb 22nd 2007: 

    John M Flaxman Library, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, IL, USA 

    9th March - 13th May 2007

    Washington University Libraries, St. Louis, USA

    1 June - 31 July 2007

    Rhode Island School of Art and Design, Providence, USA

    20 August - 2 October 2007

    Noosa Regional Gallery, Australia

    Menthol Daze is being shown as part of Arcadia Id Est - A travelling exhibition organised by the Centre for Fine Print Research, The University of the West of England.






    The booklet is 107mm X 150mm. The inside page once opened is 297mm x 420mm (A3)


    The cover is printed on white card, the inside page is black and white on 130g cartridge paper. There is space for 14 collectors' cards. Each edition has 9 cards pasted in. The collectors' cards are printed in colour on glossy paper. Menthol Daze is produced in editions of 7, it is now on its third edition. 

    Menthol Daze is a fold-out page containing spaces for collected cigarette cards. The booklet is produced under my own invented brand Elysian's Cigarettes
    The images are manipulated collages from Salem cigarette advertisements and images from the Sierra Club publications from the 'fifties. The cards are numbered and when pasted into the booklet, text accompanies each picture. The images are intended to represent the clichéd images of delightful countryside, so often used in selling products - by attempting to make them appear natural. The text that accompanies each image however details reasons to be uncertain of the countryside. Threats in the natural environment range from nuclear testing contamination, dangerous infections carried in rivers and annual lawn mower injuries, to the link between temperature change and heart attacks. The intention of Menthol Daze was to juxtapose threat and relaxation found in the Great Outdoors in order to satirize the inflated claims made for nature in advertisements - cereals, shampoo, cars, sweets and snacks, insurance and mobile phones.

    This booklet was originally created as part of my PhD submission, for the University of Brighton.



    Wednesday 31 January 2007

    Sitting Room - Exhibition

    Sitting Room Exhibition has continued on to the Permanent Bookshop, Brighton.
    Anxious Homes from Damp Flat Books is part of the group show.
    The Private View will be on 31st January and the show will run until 18th February 2007


    Thursday 25 January 2007

    Poetry Books: Reading Books - Exhibition

    Poetry Books: Reading Books - 25 January 2007 - 24 March 2007
    Exhibition will be at the Broekhuis Bookshop, Enschede, The Netherlands.
    Notebook 57 from Damp Flat Books is in the exhibition.





    ...For more about the show visit the link below:
    http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/bruik07.htm


    Tuesday 5 December 2006

    Montage Over Britain - Exhibition

    Montage Over Britain : David Ferry plus Artists’ Books from the CFPR Collection
    Saturday 9 December 2006 - Sunday 14 January 2007
    Permanent Gallery and Bookshop, Brighton.


    We're Sorry_ from Damp Flat Books will be in the exhibition.
    Accompanying the show will be a unique collection of 45 contemporary books by artists, available for visitors to view. This collection has been especially selected for 
    The Permanent Bookshop by Sarah Bodman, and includes the work of Jake Tilson, Yoko Ono, Sophie Calle and David Shrigley.


    For more about the exhibition:
    http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/montag06.htm


    For links to The Permanent Bookshop:
    http://www.permanentgallery.com/





    Monday 4 December 2006

    Sitting Room - Exhibition

    Sitting Room has continued on to the Alsager Arts Centre, 4th December 2006 – 26th January 2007. MMU Cheshire, Alsager Campus, Hassall Road, Alsager, ST7 2HL
    www.alsagerartscentre.org.uk

    The setting is a carefully re-created Sitting Room complete with comfortable armchairs, standard lamp, wallpaper, coffee table and gramophone, inviting visitors to peruse the unique display of artist’s books. Within this familiar domestic scene, emphasis is placed upon the engagement between the book and the reader. Visitors are encouraged to choose an artist’s book from the bookcase, make themselves at home in the sitting room and enjoy this rare opportunity to handle and interact with the limited edition artists-made book works. Curators Tom Sowden and Lucy May Schofield, part of the 
    Righton Press Group, based at Manchester Metropolitan University, conceived the idea for the show through a frustration of exhibiting their own books within the confines of glass cabinets. 


    Anxious Homes
     from Damp Flat Books is on show.
     








    Saturday 2 December 2006

    KART Magazine of Multiplicity - Guest Artist

    KART Magazine of Multiplicity - Australia
    This is an ongoing project - A specially produced mini-excerpt from Future Fantasteek! (edition 40) will be participating in KART during Dec. 2006. The KART (Field Study) is curated by David Dellafiora at Karingal Community Living. PO BOX 1838 Greelong, VIC 3220, Australia.
    Email: fluxusstudy@hotmail.com
    Issues of KART comprise of 15 various limited edition artworks in a portfolio-box. Some issues will be sold to institutions, libraries and archives. Karingal is a non-for-profit organisation and provides activities and services for people with a disability or who are experiencing disadvantage.


    This edition of KART will be sent to: 
    The State Library of Victoria, Australia, Sackners Visual Poetry Archived, U.S.A
    University of Buffalo, U.S.A and Sticky - Artist's Bookshop/Zineshop in Melbourne, Australia.



    Saturday 28 October 2006

    New Orleans Bookfair - Exhibition

    Damp Flat Books will be appearing at the New Orleans Bookfair - Babylon Lexicon - Hurrah!
    Selected books and my catalogue will be on display in this showcase of artists' books and book-related art.
    The 
    New Orleans Bookfair opens Oct 28th, 2006, from 10am - 6pm, Barrister's Gallery, 1724 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd., New Orleans, LA, U.S.A



    The exhibition runs through to the end of November 2006.
    Link to the bookfair here...



    Notebook 57 and Future Fantasteek! were at the show and now reside in the Hot Iron Press's permanent Artist's Book Collection.

    Friday 27 October 2006

    Bookart Bookshop - Stocking Damp Flat Books

    Bookart Bookshop in London are now supplying my books. 17 Pitfield st, London N1 6HB
    Opening hours: 1-7pm Wednesday to Friday, 1-6pm Saturday. Email: info@bookartbookshop.com
    We're Sorry_ was 'book of the month' during february this year.



    http://www.bookartbookshop.com/




    Saturday 1 July 2006

    Future Fantasteek! Issue No.1

    ISSUE ONE : JULY 2006

    ...Things You Need Issue
    Softback Zine printed in greyscale on flourescent lime paper, staple bound.
    A5 size containing 16 printed pages, with a flexible clear-multilens pvc cover.
    Issue one: Brighton 2006, edition size of fifty.

    This Zine is full of eveything that’s wrong with modern living, modern people and going to work. It’s a mixture of hand-drawn typographic slogans and advice with curious advertisements thrown in for good measure. Buy an Evil-Pet or a machine for generating Stupid Ideas. The Damp Flat Research Facilities have wasted no time in bringing you the most up to date advice along with plausible excuses that can be profered for any event.
    Things you need and things you don’t - if you can’t tell ‘em apart... YOU NEED THIS ZINE



    Future Fantasteek Issue 1 can be viewed here:

    Or you can flick through it on issuu.com


    Saturday 20 May 2006

    Sitting Room - Exhibition

    Anxious Homes is visiting the Manchester Craft and Design Centre in an exhibition called, Sitting Room. From 20th May - 15th July 2006. This is a touring show.

    "This will be a handling show of artists' books held in environments that have been created to allow the books to be freely read. The exhibition areas of each venue will become a sitting room, complete with soft armchairs, standard lamp, coffee table and wallpaper. Re-creating a non-descript domestic scene. On the wall will be bookcases or bookshelves all stocked with artists' books that the viewers are free to access and peruse within the comfortable surroundings that have been supplied."