Book launch for Poser 1, 2, 3 and HOTAM by Ho Tam
POSER is a book/magazine series created by Vancouver artist/publisher Ho Tam. With his obsessive snapshots taken from various locations, each issue of POSER features a particular theme and subject. In POSER 1, the subject is the monks and novices in yellow robes on the streets of Bangkok, while in POSER 2 Tam turns to men with stuffed toys at an annual summer fair in Toronto. Within an encounter of a few seconds, the artist asks for the permission from strangers to be photographed. The interaction is therefore a performance of both parties. Each issue of POSER is full of candid poses and colorful personalities from the participating individuals, while as a whole becomes a social study of the larger grouping.
To coincide with the launch for the series at Printed Matter, the latest issue POSER 3 will be released. This time the artist turns his focus to a unique group of individuals in Montreal.
Along with the POSER series, Ho Tam will also be presenting his latest experimental work, the debut issue of a self-titled artist’s book/magazine HOTAM. HOTAM is planned to be a quarterly publication, about the unlikely subject of the artist himself, with each issue devoted to a theme or topic chosen by the artist.