2026 Chico Attendees Series
Book arts artist, teacher, and photographer, Alexander Mouton joins Michael Chovan-Dalton from the 2026 Chico Review to talk about his work from the former East Germany and his research in the German National Archives in Berlin. They will also discuss his imprint, Unseen Press.
http://www.unseenproductions.net
https://www.instagram.com/theunseenpress/
Alexander Mouton has an MFA in photography from Indiana University, where he studied photography, film, literature, book arts, and digital media. For four years Alexander lived in Berlin directly following the fall of the Berlin Wall, during which time he was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship. In the early 2000's he developed his photographic processes to include net art, interactive video installations, and hypermedia performances. With a primary interest in sequencing images, Alexander's Unseen Press has been producing limited-edition photo books and zines since the nineties, many of which are in collections internationally including MoMA, NYC; the Getty Research Institute, LA; the Kunstbibliothek, Berlin; and most recently Latvijas Nacionālā bibliotēka, Riga, Latvia. Alexander's time-based media is included in Rhizome.org's ArtBase and has been exhibited at SFcamerawork, the Istanbul Contemporary Art Museum, the Walker Art Center and online at chico.art.net, Fylkingen Hz Journal #9, and SpringgunPress issue 5.
As Associate Professor of Art at Seattle University, during the spring quarter of 2023, Alexander took a sabbatical to travel through the former East Germany with his camera conducting an ethnographic study of the GDR's 15 largest socialist housing settlements. Further research in the summer of 2024 included time in the German National Archives in Berlin, as well as at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space and the Hellersdorf District Museum Archives. Subsequent exhibition and publication is being pursued for 2025-26.
This podcast is sponsored by the Charcoal Book Club
Begin Building your dream photobook library today at
https://charcoalbookclub.com
The Chico Review is the country’s premier Photobook Retreat. Organized by Charcoal Book Club, The Chico Review takes place over six nights at Chico Hot Springs Resort, near Livingston Montana. Applicants will spend the week with over twenty of the most influential and creative photographers, book makers, gallerists, museum curators, and photobook publishers in the industry.
https://chicoreview.com
https://www.charcoalworkshops.com