A.Bandit: A Secret Has Two Faces book review

A.Bandit: A Secret Has Two Faces

Prestel Publishing

With the collaboration that we got here, we have a a case par excellence for the resulting whole bigger much bigger than the mere sum of the individual constituents.

On one end of the spectrum we have the conceptional artist Glenn Kaino. Known for not only engineering large-scale installations and site- or situation-specific sculptural works but infusing them with socio-political commentary and pop culture issues, he has specifically over the last decade incorporated digital media as well.

On the other end we got Derek DelGaudio, who from a distance could be broadly categorized as a magician or illusionist.

The chemistry created by merging their talents resulted in what became known as “A. Bandit” and ultimately this beautifully illustrated coffee table book.

Given the aforementioned, it should not come as a surprise that the result is an exercise in magical art documenting their exhibitions, performances and other activities.

All of the artsy components are not only set in scene in what can be best described as a feast for the eyes, but also meaningfully embedded in interviews and contextualised in an overarching narrative, which adds a nice touch.

What excited me about the book is that it does not merely serve as a means to document Kaino’s and DelGaudio’s endeavours, but it clearly is another piece of art and performance.

Needless to say that this is a must-have for anyone remotely interested in performance art as well as conceptual approaches to what lies underneath the daily humdrum of this modern, highly technological and often mundane world.