Traditionally, a decathlon is a hellish athletic competition that takes place over two days, in which the poor saps who have agreed to participate subject themselves to the following: 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault, javelin, and a 1,500-meter run. Whoever survives wins. In this blog post, however, "decathlon" refers to a collection of ten books published over the last two years. The project, "Decathlon Books," was published by Duncan Hamilton and Peter Sutherland. Lovers of printed matter, the two hatched the plan at the Chinatown Soccer Club and began curating and publishing work from artists that, according to Peter and Duncan, "they find interesting and you should too." The books, which feature people like Mark Gonzales, Todd Jordan, Jack Greer, and Maggie Lee, all feature the nice slogan "Books Make Friends," which is just too cute.
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Tonight, Padraig Timoney's book, the tenth and final issue, is being released at Printed Matter in Chelsea from 7 to 9 PM. All of the previous issues will be available as well in a limited-edition box set, and Jack Greer made a fancy window display just for the event. If you're in New York we expect to see your face.www.printedmatter.org
