By: Art Hazelwood

Book Size: 9 1/2 x 6 1/2 x 1 ;
Twenty-eight screenprinted pages, plus cover printed front and back
Conceived, drawn, & screenprinted by Art Hazelwood
Book binding & design by Asa Nakata
Year: 2022

The multiple disasters of 2020 and the resulting rise of mutual aid groups during Covid-19 lockdown led Hazelwood to the writings of William Morris. In his lecture The Origins of Ornamental Art, 1872 he presents six conditions to create a livable world based on his belief in the twin values of art and socialism. To paraphrase Morris - without art, work is alienation and without work, art is elitism.

Morris describes the six conditions, briefly summarized here: first, extinction of poverty; second, leisure; third, avoidance of wasteful work; fourth, care of the beauty of the earth; fifth, education according to capacity, and sixth, abolition of class distinctions-real, mind you, not formal.

With limited access to an art studio Hazelwood resorted to paper cut as a simple straight forward means to create imagery. The book includes quotes from Pieter Kropotkin and David Graeber and images for each of the six categories with the text by Morris. The paper cut images were used as the basis for the screenprints making up this book.