Shame Space - Martine Syms

SYMS, Martine. 
Shame Space.
First edition. 8vo. 240pp with full-bleed colour imagery throughout. Red paper wraps with gold titles. New York: Primary Information, 2020. 
A fine copy of a scarce publication.

The scarce, brilliant artist book by Martine Syms that explores the possibilities of narrative and identity. The book collects a selection of journal writings by Syms in response to a selection of full-bleed stills drawn from the video project Ugly Plymouths. Text entries in Shame Space give voice to a “black, upwardly mobile, violent, solipsistic, sociopathic, gender-neutral femme” digital avatar. The book's clever design mimics a Bible, with its A5 size, embossed leather-textured cover, and gold edge painting. Translating Syms’s ongoing research and interest in new media technologies to the page, the book’s still images were coded using a programming script, such that the design, like the chatbot’s SMS responses, is an exercise in machine automation.