Artist's book
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Artists' books are works of art realized in the form of a book. They are usually published in small editions, though sometimes they are one-of-a-kind objects. Artists' books have employed a wide range of forms, including scrolls, fold-outs or loose items contained in a box. Although artists have been active in printing and book production for centuries, the artist's book is primarily a 20th century form.
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[edit] History
Inexpensive artists' books were an important part of several avant-garde practices that attempted to democratize access to art. The Dada and surrealist movements in the early decades of the 20th century produced an explosion of experimental publications by artists, as did Futurism and Russian Constructivism. Examples include 3-dimensional book-objects by Marcel Duchamp and the collage novels of Max Ernst, as well as typographical experiments by F.T. Marinetti. Books were produced by members of the loosely affiliated Fluxus group beginning in the early 1960s, including artists such as George Maciunas, whose shared values included an emphasis on ephemeral forms. Artists associated with the Pop Art movement of the mid-1960s, such as Andy Warhol and Ed Ruscha, produced well-known artist's books. Seth Siegelaub helped propel conceptual art into the world of artists books in the late 60s, publishing artists works as books that were exhibited in place of artworks. These included artists such as Sol Lewitt, Robert Barry, Douglas Huebler, Lawrence Weiner and many more. Conceptual artists in particular went on to make a small industry out of artists' books. Contemporary and post-conceptual artists also made artist's books an important aspect of their practice, notably William Wegman, Bob Cobbing, Gilbert & George, Martin Kippenberger and Raymond Pettibon.
In the early 1970s the artist's book began to be recognized as a distinct genre, and with this recognition came the beginnings of critical appreciation of and debate on the subject. Institutions devoted to the study and teaching of the form were founded (The Center for Book Arts in New York, for example); library and art museum collections began to create new rubrics with which to classify and cataloged artists' books and also began to actively expand their fledgling collections; new collections were founded (such as Franklin Furnace in New York); and numerous group exhibitions of artist's books were organized in Europe and America (notably one at Moore College of Art in Philadelphia in 1973, the catalog of which, according to Stefan Klima's Artists Books: A Critical Survey of the Literature, is the first place the term "Artist's Book" was used). Bookstores specializing in artists' books were founded, usually by artists, including Ecart in 1968 (Geneva), Other Books and So in 1970 (Amsterdam), Art Metropole in 1974 (Toronto) and Printed Matter in New York (1976). All of these also had publishing programmes over the years, and the latter two are still active today.
In the 1980s this consolidation of the field intensified, with an increasing number of practitioners, greater commercialization, and also the appearance of a number of critical publications devoted to the form. In 1983, for example, Cathy Courtney began a regular column for the London-based Art Monthly (Courtney contributed articles for 17 years, and this feature continues today with different contributors). The Library of Congress adopted the term artists books in 1980 in its list of established subjects.
In the 1990s, BA, MA and MFA programs in Book Art were founded, some notable examples of which are the BA at Mills College in California, the MFA at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, and the MA at Camberwell College of Art in London. The Journal of Artists' Books (JAB) was founded in 1994 to "raise the level of critical inquiry about artists' books."
In recent decades the artist's book has been developed, by way of the Artists' record album concept pioneered by Laurie Anderson into new media forms including the artist's CD-ROM and the artist's DVD-ROM.
[edit] Critical issues and debate
A number of issues around the artist's book have been vigorously debated. Some of the major themes under examination have been:
- Definition of the artist's book: distinguishing between the terms 'artist's book', 'book art', 'bookworks', 'livre d'artiste'
- Where the artist's book "should" be situated in relation to Craft and Fine Art traditions.
- Where to put the apostrophe.
[edit] Further reading
- Abt, Jeffrey (1986) The Book Made Art: A Selection of Contemporary Artists' Books
- Alexander, Charles, ed. (1995) Talking the Boundless Book: Art, Language, and the Book Arts
- Bright, Betty (2005) No Longer Innocent: Book Art in America, 1960-1980
- Bury, Stephen (1995) Artists' Books: The Book As a Work of Art, 1963-1995
- Castleman, Riva (1994) A Century of Artists Books
- Celant, Germano and Tim Guest (1981) Books by Artists
- Celant, Germano, translated from the Italian by Corine Lotz (1972) Book as Artwork, 1960-72
- Drucker, Johanna (1995) The Century of Artists' Books
- Drucker, Johanna (1998) Figuring the Word: Essays on Books, Writing, and Visual Poetics
- Fusco, Maria and Ian Hunt (2006) Put About: A Critical Anthology on Independent Publishing
- Hubert, Rennée Riese, and Judd D. Hubert (1999) The Cutting Edge of Reading: Artists' Books
- Klima, Stefan (1998) Artists Books: A Critical Survey of the Literature
- Lauf, Cornelia and Clive Phillpot (1998) Artist/Author: Contemporary Artists' Books
- Lippard, Lucy (1973) Six years: The Dematerialization of the Art Object from 1966 to 1972
- Lyons, Joan, ed. (1985) Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook
- Perrée, Rob (2002) Cover to Cover: The Artist's Book in Perspective
- Smith, Keith (1989) Structure of the Visual Book
[edit] See also
- Altered book
- Asemic writing
- Bookbinding
- Illuminated manuscript
- Letterpress printing
- Miniature book
- Zine
- Artists books: centers of activity
[edit] External links
[edit] Journals and on-line media covering the field
- Umbrella, founded and edited by Judith Hoffberg, is one of the oldest online periodicals covering artists’ books and other multiple editions. Available online for the years 1978-2005 through the Digital Collections of the IUPUI University Library.
- JAB: The Journal of Artists' Books was created by Brad Freeman in 1994 to develop a critical forum for the discussion of artists' books. JAB publishes articles about artists' books and related fields as well as publishing artists pages and art inserts. The covers of each issue are also commissioned works of art. JAB suspended publication from 2004 to 2006 and then resumed publication in 2007 in association with the Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper. That same year, the JAB archive for issues 1-20 (1994-2003) was sold to Yale University. Many of the back issues are available in PDF form on the JAB website.
- Bonefolder, an e-journal on book arts published since 2004 and part of the Book Arts Web, a collection of links and information about book arts, bookbinding, and book artists.
- Colophon Page is a revue of modern and contemporary illustrated books and related works on paper.
- Ex Libris is a website for artist's CD-ROMs, Director projectors, and Hypercard stacks written and designed by artists. Ex Libris also has an area dedicated to Artists Book Dealers which lists dealers from around the world.
- Book Arts at the Open Directory Project
- Yale Arts Library's Book Arts link directory
[edit] Collections of artists' books
- The Victoria and Albert Museum Book Artists' Books Collection
- "Bokartas", Lithuania
- Tate Britain's Collection of Artists' Books
- Otis College of Art and Design Online Collection
- Women's Studio Workshop Artists' Books Residencies
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Art Library Collection
- Hand Bookbindings from Princeton University Library
- Oberlin College, Clarence Ward Art Library, Artist Book Imagebase
- Artists' Books at the Kohler Art Library, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Digital Collection of Selections from the Kohler Art Library, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
- Cleveland Institute of Art Gund Library Artists' Books Collection
