A new book project by Alex Farrar, including an index of 49 questions about happiness. 

Limited-edition publication bound with several different covers, cut from a single drawing by Daniel Jacoby.

Are Dutch people happy people?
Does art make you happy?
What was your earliest memory of happiness?
What have you taught your children about happiness?

Notes on Happiness reflects on a year of conversations that Alex Farrar shared with his friends, family and acquaintances about happiness. Prompted by an invitation to respond to the subject whilst artist-in-residence at SEA Foundation, Tilburg; work on the project quickly became entwined with the life of the artist as he and his partner prepared for the birth of their daughter. Against this personal backdrop, Notes on Happiness tracks an understanding of happiness shifting in response to the multitude of ideas, attitudes and experiences of 21 contributors and the ‘Pope of Happiness’ researcher Ruut Veenhoven. 


Written by Alex Farrar, edited by David Price, designed by studioHendriksen, with a series of drawings made by artist and filmmaker Daniel Jacoby that come together in a two colour print used to bind the book in ten different covers. Printed by Zwaan Lenoir, the Netherlands and bound by AGIA, the Netherlands. The cover and interior paper is Arena natural rough by Fedrigoni.

About: Alex Farrar, born in Leeds in 1986, lives and works as an artist in Amsterdam. Daniel Jacoby, born in Lima in 1985, is an artist and filmmaker, living and working in Amsterdam. studioHendriksen is an Amsterdam based graphic design studio founded by Chantal Hendriksen. David Price, born in Glasgow in 1982, is an artist, writer and editor living and working in Stockholm.