Chris Fritton and Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder
Buffalo, NY

chrisfritton.com
kerischroeder.com

Please Stay Until Doomsday
2023
Letterpress, Foil Stamping, Volvelle Structure, Double-Tray Drop Spine
13″ x 11.5″ x 2.5″ closed, 26″ x 11.5″ x 1.25″ open

Artist Statement

Please Stay Until Doomsday is a planispheric map of our internal space. The folio houses a set of volvelles that revolve around themes of isolation, connection, and the inevitable phases of a relationship. The first sequence of concentric rings conjures a series of unique poems made by adjusting silver handles reminiscent of constellations in a night sky. Each poem is a singular instance of hundreds of possibilities, and each adjustment creates a new iteration. These stellar poetic arrangements are elaborated further by the adjacent volvelle, which reveals nine static poems accompanied and adorned by illustrations of human experiences envisioned as celestial bodies.

Throughout history we have looked to the skies for guidance and perspective. This book is a map of the sky, as well as a map of ourselves. It represents our internal cosmos: the dynamic reality of love and loss; the effect of proximity and gravity; the danger and delight of longing; the loneliness we feel even in the midst of people – each of us a body unto ourselves, in conversation with, adjacent to, but never really connected to, others.

This book is the result of a year-long, long-distance collaboration between Chris Fritton and Keri Miki-Lani Schroeder; it was an attempt to build something that described the precarious state of our personal and public relationships, as well as bridge the gap between two independent, but temporarily interdependent humans.