resting reader (2022)

120-page book
Risograph printed
Perfect bound
8.5 in. x 11 in.
Edition of 100

resting reader is a book of texts and images that I assembled from source material found on the shelves of the library at the Queer.Archive.Work shared studio. All pages were scanned directly into our risograph, printed in an unlimited edition, and bound on the studio’s Horizon BQ-140 perfect binder. I avoided using a computer, except to set the type on the cover. The content was selected during the rise of the COVID-19 Omicron variant in December 2021, around the loose themes of rest, quiet, care, queer, sanctuary, reflection, collective, and generosity. 100 copies were distributed at the Queer.Archive.Work studio and through the mail.

This publication is also a reflective response to my Urgency Readers (2019–20), and the focus on speed, crisis, and refusal in those volumes. I wrote about the process of creating resting reader and the power of atemporal communication with queer ancestors, both living and dead, for Dear Friend, the snail-mail project published by Sandra Nuut and Ott Kagovere. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Library acquired resting reader and holds a copy in their collection.

Download a full PDF [41MB] of resting reader, scanned from a printed copy.