LongHouse Reserve’s next art book turns private reverie into a public object
James Salomon is preparing the second edition of DayDream, a book project tied to LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton, for release on August 13. The new volume gathers work from 44 artists and creatives connected to the institution, extending a concept that began last spring with a Berkshire Botanical Garden exhibition Salomon curated.
The project took shape almost by accident. While listening to The Lovin’ Spoonful’s “Daydream,” Salomon arrived at the idea that would anchor the exhibition and, later, the first DayDream book. After giving a copy to Carrie Barratt, then director of LongHouse Reserve, he was invited to develop a second edition built entirely around LongHouse-affiliated contributors.
Salomon has been involved with LongHouse since 2005, serving on its art committee and writing about the property. For this edition, more than half of the contributors supplied original material. Among them: Julian Schnabel, who hand-wrote quotes by Vincent van Gogh and Jean-Dominique Bauby; Laurie Anderson, who contributed an iPhone photograph; and Alastair Gordon, who wrote an homage to Buckminster Fuller. Salomon also included a tribute to Lawrence Weiner, concluding, “He fucked up my life. And I love him for that.”
Other contributions widen the book’s range. Philip Glass’s agent shared “Dreaming Awake,” a 2003 composition that can be played by pianists. Ugo Rondinone offered a drawing that reads, “shut up; I’m dreaming.” Kiki Smith’s response to Salomon’s follow-up text was printed with her permission after she explained that she had “too many things wanting my attention at the moment and not enough time for myself to daydream.”
The book’s subjects move between vulnerability and escape, with reflections on landback, driving, death, and youth. Michael Halsband writes about manifesting a childhood dream of working with the Rolling Stones, while Oscar Molina, who is representing El Salvador in its Venice Biennale debut, reflects on how upbringing shapes his work. Joel Mesler recalls a Beverly Hills childhood scene that is both comic and unsettling.
Salomon has said he was drawn to the discomfort the project can create. That tension gives DayDream its charge: it is less a dreamy escape than a carefully edited record of how artists think when they are allowed to drift. Four hundred copies will be sold through LongHouse.
