Sober Days

an artist book by Rafik Majzoub                                                                           Artistbook / Limited edition of 99 copies numbered & signed by the artist
14×19.5cm / 70 pages
Inkjet printing / hardcover / hand-binding

Sober Days is the first artist book edited by Plan BEY. It all started with a notebook drawn with ink and coffee by artist Rafik Majzoub, in 2009, during an alcohol rehab, and our will to reproduce the overwhelming emotion we had during our first contact with this notebook.

What followed is a challenge to traditional publishing and a long research process for new printing and binding techniques that would allow us to reproduce the coffee and ink that show through the pages, the versos that tell as many stories as the rectos, the crossing outs, the pen strokes, the collages, and all the details that make the authentic charm of an artist book!

Without falling into facsimile and mechanical reproduction, this edition is all about the right format, printing technique, feel of paper inside and fabric outside, and the handwritten title on pieces of masking tape… All those small details that are overlooked by traditional book printing, and that are an important part of the experience of contact with an artist book.

It is also a questioning of the traditional process of book production, in all its stages, and a first adventure in the seldom-charted territories of artist books production in Lebanon.

Rafik’s love for the bottle being what it is, the release of the book is accompanied by a limited edition of 9 coasters especially printed for the occasion, as well as a series of posters.