Each new technological development enabled new methods of book making; the invention of paper allowed folds to be made in the material to form a folded concertina.
Artists who create artists’ books draw on this rich history of the book to inform their practice and the results are works that manifest in a variety of forms or are hybrids of one or more of these historical techniques.
Consequently there are no set parameters of what constitutes an artists’ book or for what to call them.
There are a number of terms that are used to refer to the same basic concept including book art, bookworks, book as artwork, artists' book objects, bookwork, artists books ( with no apostrophe).
After doing some preliminary reading I felt that I should get out there and have a look at some more examples both online and actually. A search of Darebin Libraries catalogue led me to Jonathan Safran Foers book Tree of Codes a fascinating book that I think fits into the genre of artists’ books the experience of reading it if that is the correct way to describe what one does involves an engagement which is quite different from reading other books.
The pages in this book have been die cut so each page reveals the layers beneath it some of these are the next page other cut sections are deeper. His intention was to create new book by erasing or cutting away some of the text from an existing work. He used the existing text from The Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz as the starting point as this was his favourite book. He creates a completely new narrative and also a work that is sculptural and poetic.
In my initial search of the Swinburne Library catalogue I discovered an online journal called The BoneFolder a site hosted by the university of Syracuse in the USA. This site has lots of links and information regarding bookworks, book binding, etc.
A simple Google search led me to the State Library of Queensland which has a collection and online exhibition of artists’ books. I have listed this link on my favourites and this is interesting as it provides examples of different styles of artists’ books including the book as object, concertina style, altered book etc
.
My curiosity piqued I went to the State Library of Victoria which currently has a permanent exhibition on the history of books which includes some artists’ books and also an exhibition called Fine Impressions: Printmaking and Artists’ books in Melbourne 1999-2010 which focuses on 20 contemporary Australian artists working in this area. The exhibition runs until 16th of February 2012.
Artisan books which is a fabulous bookshop in Gertrude Street Fitzroy has hosted exhibitions of artists’ books since 2006, please refer to links to access the archives of these exhibitions as the works are diverse and beautiful.
If you are quick you may still be able to catch Born to Concrete an exhibition on concrete poetry at Heide Museum of Modern Art where I volunteer. Although the exhibition is not specifically about artists’ books there are some lovely examples of the form and it is generally an interesting exhibition.
Artist Books 2010 "Atlas - an exhibition of artist books", Artisan Books, viewed 14 September 2011, <http://www.artisan.com.au/exhibition/artist_book10.htm >.
Artist Books 2007 "Text/txt" - an exhibition of artist books, Artisan Books, viewed 14 September 2011, < http://www.artisan.com.au/exhibition/artist_book07.htm>.
Artists’ Books 2011, State Library of Victoria, viewed 16 September 2011, <http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/our-collections/collection-strengths/history-book/artists-books>.
Artists’ books – redefining the book 2011, State Library of Queensland, viewed 21 August 2011,
< http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/online/ab/find_artists_books>.
Safran Foer, J. 2011, Tree of Codes, Visual Editions, London.
Verheyen, P D (ed.) 2011, The BoneFolder – an e-journal for the bookbinder and book artist, DOAJ Directory of Open Access Journals, viewed 21 August 2011, <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder/>.
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