Warren Ellis - Nina Simone's Gum [Limited Edition]

On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records bag. The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem, his creative muse, growing in significance with every passing year.

This is a limited edition. Each copy will be signed, numbered and in a gold fabric slipcase, along with an additional 32 page photographic pamphlet.

Book
+ Fine handbound edition, pages as per trade edition, with signed & numbered limitation page at front of text.
Case
+ To be covered in gold fabric paper (GF Smith Twist 120gsm gold), with a rectangular panel of plain, pale cream paper, affixed into a slightly larger, recessed rectangle on the front, with the gum shape blocked in pale gold in the centre of the paper rectangle.
+ Title and author blocked on spine (in cream pigment).
Endpapers
+ Printed using the metal shavings image to match the cover of the pamphlet.
+ Purple h&t bands.
Slipcase:
+ Covered in purple cloth, blind blocked with title only on front
Additional pamphlet
+ 32 page photographic booklet. 210x159mm to match the regualr edition.
+ Printed 4/4 with on 145gsm Zerkall smooth, three-hole-sewn by hand with cream thread, cover 4/0
Finishing
+ Individually wrapped in brown paper with numbered label on outside

 

In 2019, Cave - his collaborator and great friend - asked Warren if there was anything he could contribute to display in his Stranger Than Kindness exhibition. Warren realised the time had come to release the gum. Together they agreed it should be housed in a glass case like a holy relic. Worrying the gum would be damaged or lost, Warren decided to first have it cast in silver and gold, sparking a chain of events that no one could have predicted, one that would take him back to his childhood and his relationship to found objects.

Nina Simone's Gum is about how something so small can form beautiful connections between people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality. It is a celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and love.