This is the second in a series of reports on sources for illustrated holidays books. Yesterday afternoon, I felt the need for a jolt of eye candy so I headed to Printed Matter, Inc. My timing was perfect. The sign on the door read, "Holiday Exhibition Sale. Giftland VIII: the Revenge of Giftland."

Inside, the walls were hung with hundreds of printed multiples, from T-shirts and tote bags to screen prints, CDs and 'zines, and, of course, artist's books. A UPS shipment was being delivered, which turned out to be a new series of limited edition artist's skateboards by Ari Marcopolous, Liam Gillick, and Mark Gonzales.

Photos left and right by Peggy Roalf; photo center courtesy of Printed Matter.

The big table up front was stacked high with lots of new titles, including Xmas Trees by John LaMacchia. This small, thick edition, printed on bright white paper, has photographs of conifers of all sizes in their natural state; conifers dressed for every imaginable holiday occasion; and, at the end, spent conifers, being unceremoniously dumped.

Among the 3-D multiples, one of my favorites is a piece called Bermuda Pantaloons by Evah Fan. As you open the pages to explore the tiny drawings within, this hand-stitched 'zine becomes a little paper hut with a roof.

In the corridor between front and back rooms, the beautifully curated display cases invited serious exploration, with rare editions from Fluxus alongside issues of Crimeways and Futureways. Shelves on the opposite wall are jammed with books, some seriously high-minded (The Case for the Burial of Ancestors) and some seriously raunchy (David Sandlin's 1988 Travel Guide to la Via Dollorosa.)

New this year from Printed Matter Editions is A Field Guide to Weeds by Kim Beck. With a silky green binding that mimics 19^th century pocket guides, this book becomes a metaphor for a crack in a city sidewalk. Common weeds we ignore, dig up or step over creep out of the gutter, up the pages and overrun the book.

Although the hotly debated term "artist's books" generally refers to books created by artists as containers for their art rather than books that contain writings about art, Printed Matter also carries some mainstream titles, such as a lavish monograph on Ed Ruscha (Phaidon, 2003) and numerous museum catalogs about process, minimalist and installation art.

But if you want to inspire your friends who've become jaded by consumerism, and give your eyes a good time in the process, this is the place to get anti-establishment, un-corporate works made by hand by artists for connoisseurs. Prices range from $1.00 to $1,000.

"The Revenge of Giftland" was curated by Printed Matter's staff, who each invited five artists to participate, including: Airport War, William Bahan, Katia Bassanini, Laura Bellmont, Robin Cameron, Ian Cooper, Jon DeSimone, Trenton Hancock Doyle, Evah Fan, Pamela Fraser, Gelatin, Liam Gilllick, Mark Gonzales, Matt Haber, Erik Hanson, Maya Hayuk, Kate Joranson, Ryan Kelly, Terence Koh, Nora Ligorano & Marshall Reese, Noah Lyon, Ari Marcopolous, Esperanza Mayobre, Ryan McGinness, Maya Miller, Naomi Miller, James Morrison, Rick Myers, Gary Panter, Paper Rad, James Prez, Sara Greenberg Rafferty, Terry Richardson, Carlos Roque, Jason Frank Rothenberg, Julie Schumacher, Eric Shaw, Elizabeth Sporleder, Glen St. Jean, Chrysanne Stathacos, Steve Stelling, Richard Tipping, Dale Wittig, and Alivia Zivich/Aryan Asshole Records.