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Artists' Books CollectionsAbout the Collection"The principal difference between the book hack and the book artist is that the former succumbs to the conventions of the medium, while the latter envisions what else ' the book' might become." --Richard Kostelanetz 1 Imagine a book in which the traditional techniques of bookmaking (typography, binding, papermaking) converge with methods of creating visual art (printmaking techniques, photography, drawing) to challenge our prescribed notions of the book and the experience of reading. Artists' books require an active participation on the part of the reader that goes beyond opening, reading and seeing to the investigative methods of examining systematically: touching, uncovering, unlocking, removing, manipulating, playing to discover their meaning. Many enjoy the experience of a book, a covered series of pages containing text read in a sequence. Some of us enjoy even more the experience of reading, if you will, a series of images printed in book form, the photographic essay for example. When text and images are combined by the artist in a book form, the experience takes on further complexity and, one might argue, activity on the part of the reader. Since the late 1970s, Special Collections has been acquiring experimental and artists' books to provide students of fine and graphic arts with examples of forms that challenge the conventional meaning of the word 'book.' Over the years, the collection has grown to include fine and small press imprints, limited edition letterpress and offset printed volumes and contemporary artists' books. These books represent a variety of structures, construction techniques, printing methods and themes. There are books that fold like accordion bellows, fans, jacob's ladders, venetian blinds. There are books that are disguised as other objects like a camera, a canister of film, a box of chocolates, a jack-in-the-box. There are books illustrated with drawing, photography, silk screen printing, wood engraving, lithography. There are books that tell tales of life, provide games to play with and present ideas to consider. For the student enrolled in illustration, photography and digital imaging who is assigned a project to make a book, the collection provides reference sources that encourage the artist and critical thinker to consider, "what else 'the book' might become."2 Keith Smith's multi-volume set of how-to manuals for book artists that cover binding techniques, structures and use of text will be of great value to a student training themselves to look beyond the codex form. Johanna Drucker's The Century of Artists' Books and Joan Lyon's Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook provide a look at how the art form has developed in the last one hundred years. JAB: the Journal of Artists Books, published since 1994, will give researchers a sense of what is happening now in the world of artists' book making. The collection also includes catalogs from exhibitions held at New York's Babcock Gallery, Yale University and New Haven's PABA Gallery. Original works by artists such as Keith Smith, Julie Chen, Scott McCarney, Johanna Drucker and early works by Dieter Roth, John Crombie and Richard Kostelanetz among others are available for viewing. 1 Kostelanetz, Richard. "Book Art." In Artists' Books: A Critical Anthology and Sourcebook , edited by Joan Lyons, 27. Rochester, New York : Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1985. 2 Ibid.
How to Find Artists’ BooksAuthor and title searches can be conducted in HOMER, the Library’s online catalog. A specialized index is available at the Archives & Special Collections reference desk that covers printing processes, relief and intaglio techniques, some specific stitches used for bindings, various non-Codex book forms, and names and locations of private and independent printing presses.
Contact the CuratorKristin EshelmanCurator for Multimedia Collections
This page is maintained by K. Eshleman. |