The Difficulties of Nonsense (http://www.artbook.com/9781597113007.html) features Cumming’s conceptual black-and-white and color photographs from the 1970s, revealing his fascination with illusion and trickery. From his base in Los Angeles, Cumming made functional-looking constructions, rendered useless and created primarily to be photographed with his 8-by-10 camera. Playing with props, proportions, unusual angles, light, and mirrors, the images invite viewers to look in–and then to second-guess what they see. As the first publication to survey this significant series, The Difficulties of Nonsense serves as a touchstone for contemporary artists and for those interested in artwork that came out of Los Angeles in the 1970s. With an essay by Sarah Bay Gachot, and an interview by David Campany, this monograph pays homage to a time when Cumming, and many in the photographic community, worked to playfully push the boundaries of photography and narrative. Sarah Bay Gachot will give a brief introduction to Cumming's work, followed by a book signing.SpeakersRobert Cumming (born in Worcester, Massachusetts, 1943) is best-known for his conceptual photography of sculptures and drawings which play with the mechanics of photographic practice. He was originally a painting student in the ’60s, and received a master’s degree in fine arts from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1967. He moved primarily into sculpture and three-dimensional art, and soon was creating sculptures for the camera. His work is represented in the permanent collections of many major art museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Sarah Bay Gachot is a writer, educator, and artist who lives in Los Angeles, California.https://www.facebook.com/events/819057661559036/