Published on occasion of the CCA exhibition 1973: Sorry, Out of Gas (2007-2008), Sorry, Out of Gas is a unique publishing project combining the diverse materials assembled for the exhibition with a specifically commissioned children’s component by illustrator Harriet Russell. Architects, engineers, craftsmen and thinkers invested their skills and ingenuity in finding answers to the problems the oil crisis of the 1970s presented. A closer look at their solutions, projects and experiments reveals much that can be applied to the challenges of today’s world.

A humorous, 32-page introductory illustrated story entitled “An Endangered Species” makes the exhibition subject relevant to young readers. Harriet Russell’s drawings and hand-lettered text describe the role of oil in daily life and suggest alternatives to this rapidly diminishing resource. An essay by curator Mirko Zardini follows the children’s component, while specific themes and projects are highlighted throughout the book in short texts written by co-curator Giovanna Borasi with Adam Bobbette, Daria Der Kaloustian, and Pierre-Édouard Latouche.

The book was designed by Massimo Pitis with Bianca Baldacci, and reproduces over 200 colour and black-and-white images on 234 pages. It features many photographs by Jon Naar, who traveled extensively across North America to document buildings and their architects and engineers in remote as well as urban contexts. His work disseminated their ideas through publications of the period, and forms an essential contribution to the catalogue.

Sorry, Out of Gas is available in English and French editions through the CCA Bookstore.