Ed Ruscha, Mason Williams, and others
Royal Road Test
1966-1979
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- Artist and Publisher: Ed Ruscha
- Artist: Mason Williams
- Artist: Patrick Blackwell
- Printer: G. R. Huttner Lithography
Royal Road Test
1966-1979
Physical Qualities
Spiral-bound volume with offset lithographs, Book: 241 x 160 x 8 mm. (9 1/2 x 6 5/16 x 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Brenda Richardson, Baltimore, in Honor of the Artists
Object Number
1998.14
The photographs in "Royal Road Test" show what happens to a typewriter when it is thrown out of the window of a moving car—more specifically, when a "Royal" typewriter is thrown out of a 1963 Buick at 90 miles per hour. The artists cleverly cast themselves in different roles: Ed Ruscha as the driver of the car; Mason Williams as the thrower of the typewriter; and Patrick Blackwell as the photographer. The scattered pieces of the damaged typewriter, spread at a significant distance, are shot and labeled as if they were part of a crime scene.
Rena Hoisington, BMA, "Off the Shelf: Modern and Contemporary Artists' Books," May Gallery, March 12 - June 25, 2017.
