This book certainly makes me happy

I Declare a Permanent State of Happiness is a stunning piece by Kenneth Goldsmith produced by Urtext, under the imprint Eris (originally listed under Marginalia). As with others in the Marginalia series, it’s a type of meta writing. Goldsmith takes 60(ish) pages of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus and in a side-by-side approach ‘annotates’ them. Each page is a work or art, a conceptual gem or an exploration. I love this quote from Goldsmith about his relationship with the Tractatus, which probably rings true for many of us:

“Although it has sat on my shelf for decades, I never actually read the Tractatus. But I always loved the idea of it…”

It’s an incredible object. It’s large format (measuring 26 x 35cm) and paperback binding give it an almost textbook/educational quality — but not in a banal way. The simple (no text) ombre cover is gorgeous and such a beautiful disguise for the opulence with in. Also, I’m loving the simple embossed mark for the imprint.

Originally published at www.paperposts.me on February 3, 2019.