Jill Magid: Tender (Special Edition)

A special edition of Jill Magid’s book Tender, produced in a limited run of 100, includes a single penny engraved with the phrase “THE BODY WAS ALREADY SO FRAGILE.” Early in the pandemic, the artist released 120,000 of these engraved 2020 pennies into everyday circulation through small transactions at bodegas in New York.

Conceived as a story in multiple chapters, this book focuses on two parts of a larger project by artist Jill Magid in which she explores the circulation of pennies against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through Tender, a public artwork in New York City produced by Creative Time, and Tender: Balance, an exhibition at the Renaissance Society in 2021, Magid both observes intimate financial and social transactions and delves into economic systems that are harder to see, intervening in the flows of currency in subtle, poetic ways.

Along with visuals from these two parts of the project, the book offers insights into Magid’s extensive research process and three new essays that provide greater social and art historical context for her work. In their contribution, Claire Bishop and Nikki Columbus consider how Magid’s process makes wide-ranging connections to create a constellation of ideas. Jamilah King addresses the ongoing shift toward a cashless economy and who is left behind, and Aden Kumler explores histories of modifying currency. The book culminates in a conversation between the artist and curators Justine Ludwig and Karsten Lund, in which they reflect on the project’s conceptual touchstones and on events contemporary to the work.

Softcover

175 pages

11 x 9 in.

ISBN: 978-0-941548-84-7

Edited by Karsten Lund

Designed by Arno Baudin (ZOLO)

Softcover 175 pages 11 x 9 inches ISBN: 978-0-941548-84-7 Edited by Karsten Lund Designed by Arno Baudin (ZOLO)

Price: $200.00