Notebook Collaborations—a project through Matthew Austin’s publishing studio For the Birds Trapped in Airports—are unique journals designed in partnership with artists to embody their creative practice. In the first iteration of this project, Chicago-based artist Antonia Contro worked with Austin to create L’Osservatore, a sketchbook in three sections: the first for contemplative writing, the second for watercolor painting, and the third for drawing. This project finds its place within Contro’s enduring exploration of the formal and conceptual qualities of a book: a space where ideas take shape. In L’Osservatore, Contro shares that space with the sketchbook’s recipient, extending her long history of collaborative practice. Notebook Collaborations #1: L’Osservatore is available in a limited edition of 35 handmade copies, each featuring one of Contro’s three small prints—One Cloud, Art Forms, or Volcano—on the cover. Book Dimensions: 9” x 8.5” Page Count: 46 pages total (24 pages of lined paper, 12 pages of 100% cotton watercolor paper, 10 pages of dot graph paper)
