I came across a great new zine this week by the Dutch artist Erik van der Weijde while shopping around Dashwood Books. Parking Lot. is a brilliant reproach on banality. There is hardly anything more pedestrian than a parked car, let alone thirty-two of them, but van der Weijde's pictures are physical. You can feel him leaning on and reaching over the hoods, peering, as his wide-angle lens engulfs the interiors and their surrounding lots. The book has a strong and playful cadence, which is set up by its vertical orientation. Seriality is abated by idiosyncrasy. The perspectives are restless, and the occasional obstructions - a layer of snow covering the windshield, a sun reflector left in place overnight, a half-shut garage door - work to animate these idyll machines. Every book I have seen by Van der Weijde is impeccably designed and produced; Parking Lot. is no exception. It is bound with thin thread, and the high-contrast black and white images read and turn beautifully on the warm newsprint.
For more info and other works by Erik van der Weijde visit: erikvanderweijde.com and 478ZINE
