Thursday, April 22, 2010
University of the Arts MFA Book Arts/ Printmaking Thesis Exhibitions
It's that time of year again. Friday, April 23 at 5:00pm, come by the University of the Arts, Anderson Hall to see half the new batch of Philly Book Artists to hatch from Susan Viguers' tutelage. Pat Stump, Mandy Dunn, Sally Faulkner, Emily Pfahl and Katy Matich all give good shows. I glanced quickly yesterday, but some preview highlights include a wall of letterpress post its by Faulkner, playing with words and type (my favorite repeated phrase: Fly Me a River). Matich created 100 books full of life lessons. Always a good show, come on out!!!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
CAA Review of MCBA Biennial
I wrote an extended, more polished review of the MCBA Biennial for the College Art Association.
Read it here:
Book Art Biennial 2009: Mature Content—The Artist’s Book as Advocate
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
July 25, 2009
Read it here:
Book Art Biennial 2009: Mature Content—The Artist’s Book as Advocate
Minnesota Center for Book Arts, Minneapolis, MN
July 25, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
BYOTY Book Fair at Little Berlin
Tomorrow I will be representing a dozen artists with 30 books under $50 at the BYOTY Book Fair at the Little Berlin Gallery. Brave the rain and stop by!
119 W. Montgomery St. Philadelphia, PA
Near the Berks stop on the El
For more info:
http://littleberlin.org/2009/10/b-y-o-t-y/
119 W. Montgomery St. Philadelphia, PA
Near the Berks stop on the El
For more info:
http://littleberlin.org/2009/10/b-y-o-t-y/
Sunday, August 23, 2009
MCBA Biennial: John Risseeuw
Although it was nearly a month ago, I thought I would write about my experience at the Minnesota Center for Book Arts' first ever Biennial. The event, which took place Saturday, July 25, 2009, was pretty great. I had the added advantage of being able to visit home and attend a book arts event at the same time (while a Philly book artist now, I am a Minneapolitan in my roots). The event was one day only, which I thought was nice. Our conference in June was several days, but it also included an enormous book fair. With three days I still don't believe one would be able to see enough of what we had brought to town. But the single day of artists, both national and local to Minneapolis, was very inspiring and thoughtful. The theme of the day was Mature Content: Artists' Books as Social Advocate. The day began with a presentation of work by John Risseeuw, a printmaker, papermaker, book artist, and social activist who teaches at Arizona State University. He visited Philadelphia a few years ago and inspired an entire body of work for me, so I was more than happy to see him speak again in Minneapolis.
Risseauw's talk was entitled "John Risseeuw: Making a Difference?" He built his presentation around the question of how we make any kind of change by working in our studios. To put it plainly, how can we provoke change in a medium that is collected on special collections shelves in libraries, effectively kept from the public eye? Fair question, and one I have heard before. As Risseuw put it, "If I were an activist, I would be out in the streets, but I'm not an activist when I print [the words] Total Fucking Idiots!" Agreed. You can write this out, set it in type and print 500 copies of it. But then what does it do?
Risseeuw pointed out that the channels through which fine art flows are fairly bourgeois. Activism can not have such a strong affect in museums, galleries and libraries. It will rarely cause the masses to take to the streets and overthrow policy. If this is your goal, then creating artists' books is hardly the way. They can serve as beautiful, expressive and tactile historical documents, but real time activism exists in real time media like the web, the radio, even the newspaper.
So do we give up? I hardly think so. An artist's book may not incite a coup, but it can create change. Risseeuw's Landmine Series is not unlike William Snyder's 800,000 project. Both pieces aim to bring awareness to their audience about a wrong in an attempt to create a right – in Risseuw's case, about landmines in Cambodia, in Snyder's case, about the genocide in Rwanda – by educating the viewer about the stories of the victims, and by raising money to be sent to the respective countries for aid and relief. Of course, not every socially conscious art piece can be turned into cash. Indeed, some artists must purge their frustration into art without a conscientious outcome. Are these pieces any less valuable? In terms of currency, yes, but in terms of concept, not necessarily.
Risseeuw pointed out that while not everyone could afford to buy one of his Landmine prints, the story of the project reached many more people than the work itself, and in that sense the idea itself was the activism. In certain instances, the story can touch people as much as holding the actual work. In fact, it is unlikely that you, as my reader, will hold one of Risseuw's prints in your hand, but you can click on a link in this article and read about his project on the Cabbage Head Press website. Does that make his work less activist because you are reading ABOUT it and not experiencing it firsthand? Not at all. And in that way, we can be activists while our books sit on special collections shelves.
At the end of his talk, Risseeuw incited a call to arms to all artists in the audience:
Document Something.
Collaborate on Something.
Advocate for Something.
Commit Yourself (Go Do It)
He closed by saying, "The time has arrived. I'll see you in the streets, and at the press."
Through his talk, Risseeuw touched on issues we touch on continually, issues of accessibility, of audience, display, issues that seem to keep book artists from being able to make a difference with their work. But in the end all hope is not lost. While we may not be able to get people into the streets, we affect change by simply doing what we do and pursuing questions we have, working with others through collaboration, shared studio spaces, as educators and at book fairs. Books are an undertaking that can not be approached completely alone, and in this way we must share our ideas as we are creating. Wherever a single copy of an edition may end up, the creation of that single book was a journey to be shared by more than one person.
Now that paints socially conscious book artists as quiet little protesters with small signs that don't yell too loud, but I won't refute that. If this is the way one chooses to protest, isn't it still important that we are protesting? Isn't it better to print "Total fucking idiots" than to keep our mouths shut? This is the way some of us find to protest, and it is better to do what we do best and make books than to sit and do nothing at all.
On one final, personal note, I have struggled with this issue my entire art career. In college I was surrounded with politically conscious and socially active individuals whom I admired greatly and who now work in public policy, defend civil rights, advocate for people's health and make the world a better place in ways that I can not even begin to conceive of. When surrounded by fantastic individuals like these, one can feel selfish and horrible for making a conscious decision to pursue a life as an artist. In the midst of making this personal decision years ago, I confessed my feelings of inadequacy to one such extraordinary individual. She responded in a letter that I still hold dear with the following:
"Something I've always valued is that people work for... rightness, in the world and in their lives, in a lot of ways. Some people do it overtly by being professional activists, and other people do it by... trying to find their place in the world... that is that the best way you can make the world a better place is to find your place in it, to discover the person you need to be and to do what makes you happy and to work with the passions you have."
I can't deny that hanging on to these words for 10 years has been self validating, but last month I found myself surrounded by a group of people in Minneapolis that have done just that, that have found their place behind a press, making art, collecting artists' books, and sharing work and ideas that they believe in. We may not start riots or overthrow governments, but we make books. And we do our damnedest to share them.
Risseauw's talk was entitled "John Risseeuw: Making a Difference?" He built his presentation around the question of how we make any kind of change by working in our studios. To put it plainly, how can we provoke change in a medium that is collected on special collections shelves in libraries, effectively kept from the public eye? Fair question, and one I have heard before. As Risseuw put it, "If I were an activist, I would be out in the streets, but I'm not an activist when I print [the words] Total Fucking Idiots!" Agreed. You can write this out, set it in type and print 500 copies of it. But then what does it do?
Risseeuw pointed out that the channels through which fine art flows are fairly bourgeois. Activism can not have such a strong affect in museums, galleries and libraries. It will rarely cause the masses to take to the streets and overthrow policy. If this is your goal, then creating artists' books is hardly the way. They can serve as beautiful, expressive and tactile historical documents, but real time activism exists in real time media like the web, the radio, even the newspaper.
So do we give up? I hardly think so. An artist's book may not incite a coup, but it can create change. Risseeuw's Landmine Series is not unlike William Snyder's 800,000 project. Both pieces aim to bring awareness to their audience about a wrong in an attempt to create a right – in Risseuw's case, about landmines in Cambodia, in Snyder's case, about the genocide in Rwanda – by educating the viewer about the stories of the victims, and by raising money to be sent to the respective countries for aid and relief. Of course, not every socially conscious art piece can be turned into cash. Indeed, some artists must purge their frustration into art without a conscientious outcome. Are these pieces any less valuable? In terms of currency, yes, but in terms of concept, not necessarily.
Risseeuw pointed out that while not everyone could afford to buy one of his Landmine prints, the story of the project reached many more people than the work itself, and in that sense the idea itself was the activism. In certain instances, the story can touch people as much as holding the actual work. In fact, it is unlikely that you, as my reader, will hold one of Risseuw's prints in your hand, but you can click on a link in this article and read about his project on the Cabbage Head Press website. Does that make his work less activist because you are reading ABOUT it and not experiencing it firsthand? Not at all. And in that way, we can be activists while our books sit on special collections shelves.
At the end of his talk, Risseeuw incited a call to arms to all artists in the audience:
Document Something.
Collaborate on Something.
Advocate for Something.
Commit Yourself (Go Do It)
He closed by saying, "The time has arrived. I'll see you in the streets, and at the press."
Through his talk, Risseeuw touched on issues we touch on continually, issues of accessibility, of audience, display, issues that seem to keep book artists from being able to make a difference with their work. But in the end all hope is not lost. While we may not be able to get people into the streets, we affect change by simply doing what we do and pursuing questions we have, working with others through collaboration, shared studio spaces, as educators and at book fairs. Books are an undertaking that can not be approached completely alone, and in this way we must share our ideas as we are creating. Wherever a single copy of an edition may end up, the creation of that single book was a journey to be shared by more than one person.
Now that paints socially conscious book artists as quiet little protesters with small signs that don't yell too loud, but I won't refute that. If this is the way one chooses to protest, isn't it still important that we are protesting? Isn't it better to print "Total fucking idiots" than to keep our mouths shut? This is the way some of us find to protest, and it is better to do what we do best and make books than to sit and do nothing at all.
On one final, personal note, I have struggled with this issue my entire art career. In college I was surrounded with politically conscious and socially active individuals whom I admired greatly and who now work in public policy, defend civil rights, advocate for people's health and make the world a better place in ways that I can not even begin to conceive of. When surrounded by fantastic individuals like these, one can feel selfish and horrible for making a conscious decision to pursue a life as an artist. In the midst of making this personal decision years ago, I confessed my feelings of inadequacy to one such extraordinary individual. She responded in a letter that I still hold dear with the following:
"Something I've always valued is that people work for... rightness, in the world and in their lives, in a lot of ways. Some people do it overtly by being professional activists, and other people do it by... trying to find their place in the world... that is that the best way you can make the world a better place is to find your place in it, to discover the person you need to be and to do what makes you happy and to work with the passions you have."
I can't deny that hanging on to these words for 10 years has been self validating, but last month I found myself surrounded by a group of people in Minneapolis that have done just that, that have found their place behind a press, making art, collecting artists' books, and sharing work and ideas that they believe in. We may not start riots or overthrow governments, but we make books. And we do our damnedest to share them.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The Hybrid Book Extravaganza
This past weekend, June 4-6, 2009, was The Hybrid Book: Intersection + Intermedia, a book arts event at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. As someone who helped put the thing together, I feel I should comment, and also state that the lack of blog communication on this site has greatly been due to conference planning. There are so many things one would want to write about and address after attending such an extensive grouping of talks, panels, exhibitions, and a fair with over 100 artists. I will make a general statement and perhaps, when all the little loose ends begin to be tied up, I will return with more in depth analysis of what I saw.
As an organizer, I felt we made a real effort to bring together, not the old and the new for I don't like what those words imply, but the established and the emerging. It feels inappropriate to say we wanted to breathe new life into the field, for the field itself is not dying. It isn't even getting tired. We as artists, librarians, curators, critics, and enthusiasts, are active and expanding, and this events goal was to show the broad range of work being made today, and to explore the intricate web that binds it all together (pun intended).
It is incredibly exciting for a new artist to walk up to a table and stand face to face with someone whose name you have read in critical writings, whose binding instructions you have followed to make your own books work. To hold his or her books in your hands, to talk about what you see and what he or she meant them to say, to share your own ideas and books with those that you admire is such a luxury, and one that this field is in full support of. This interpersonal experience between artists of all ages and stages of their career is what has created a group of people that jump at the opportunity to get together and speak enthusiastically of an art form they love. This is what makes book artists so unique, and this is what made The Hybrid Book such a success. Thank you to all who participated.
I hope to return soon, after weeding through the video tapes, the audio recordings, the budget, the empty bottles of water and my apartment full of papers, to share with you a few exciting projects I was able to experience:
800,000: Acknowledge. Remember. Renew. by William Snyder
God Bless This Circuitry, A Performance by Andrew Sallee and Tate Shaw
The incredible works and humble nature of artist Sun Young Kang.
Book Artists with a BackUp Plan by Katie Baldwin and Mary Tasillo
If I neglect to tell you about these things, harassment is welcome.
Thank you again, everyone.
--Amanda
As an organizer, I felt we made a real effort to bring together, not the old and the new for I don't like what those words imply, but the established and the emerging. It feels inappropriate to say we wanted to breathe new life into the field, for the field itself is not dying. It isn't even getting tired. We as artists, librarians, curators, critics, and enthusiasts, are active and expanding, and this events goal was to show the broad range of work being made today, and to explore the intricate web that binds it all together (pun intended).
It is incredibly exciting for a new artist to walk up to a table and stand face to face with someone whose name you have read in critical writings, whose binding instructions you have followed to make your own books work. To hold his or her books in your hands, to talk about what you see and what he or she meant them to say, to share your own ideas and books with those that you admire is such a luxury, and one that this field is in full support of. This interpersonal experience between artists of all ages and stages of their career is what has created a group of people that jump at the opportunity to get together and speak enthusiastically of an art form they love. This is what makes book artists so unique, and this is what made The Hybrid Book such a success. Thank you to all who participated.
I hope to return soon, after weeding through the video tapes, the audio recordings, the budget, the empty bottles of water and my apartment full of papers, to share with you a few exciting projects I was able to experience:
800,000: Acknowledge. Remember. Renew. by William Snyder
God Bless This Circuitry, A Performance by Andrew Sallee and Tate Shaw
The incredible works and humble nature of artist Sun Young Kang.
Book Artists with a BackUp Plan by Katie Baldwin and Mary Tasillo
If I neglect to tell you about these things, harassment is welcome.
Thank you again, everyone.
--Amanda
Monday, December 8, 2008
The Borowsky Center presents...
The University of the Arts is home to the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, a big name for a modest operation. A single color Heidelberg KORS Offset Press runs a handful of theater posters and artist postcards each semester, as well as a visiting artist's project. 2008 saw Richard Minsky and Amos Kennedy printing uniquely different projects with the necessary physical and conceptual assistance of Master Printer Lori Spencer. Minsky printed Tyvek unmbrellas with a Robert Louis Stevenson essay in honor of Judith Hoffberg and her publication, Umbrella (ambitious in its form, the essay is completely unreadable as a parasol). Kennedy's prints are yet to be completed, as he played with the press, building up collaged backgrounds of red and blue, protesters and police, all taken from photographs of Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama. Upon his departure from the University, Kennedy's story was just unfolding on six variations of his print and he took them to back to his shop in Alabama to play, explore and complete them in his print shop.
While the visiting artists are always interesting, be it for their content or their outlandish print wishes (Gigantic solids? Easy, says Ms. Spencer. Handmade paper? Let's try it!), there are a small number of students every semester who use the press to create some of the cleanest, most finished and realized projects they have ever had the opportunity to make. Spencer teaches a class entitled Book Production, a course that takes students through the entire gamut of a book in only three months- from conception to a dozen dummies, followed by five press runs and a frantic binding period with a looming deadline: the Book Arts/Printmaking department's annual Book Party. Students produce editions in 100 plus copies and their biggest selling push comes at the party, when their work is still hot off the press.
THIS YEAR the Book Party is on Thursday, December 18, from 4:00-7:00 in Hamilton Hall, South Broad and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, PA. This year there are a record twenty students in the class, and in true form, Spencer has said yes to every project that came across the proofing table. With so many students from a variety of disciplines, you are guaranteed to find an appropriate gift for anyone this holiday season.
Greg Pizzoli and Ansley Joe have both created wonderfully illustrated children's books. Pizzoli's book, The Great Race, contains illustrations reminiscent of classic 1970s childrens' books but with a more modern color palette. Joe's book is guaranteed to entertain as interactive elements tell the story of two children digging their way through the backyard and into China.
Erin Sweeney has created another interactive work, a puppet theatre full of feisty broads with background stories and a decadent stage. Easily enticing to any young child who loves to play with dolls, Sweeney's stage characters appeal to an adult audience as well with their vaudevillian sense of style.
It may be important to note at this point that none of the books have been completed. There are still two days of printing to go, but I have had the privilege of seeing nearly every piece in its development, and I am continually impressed with the talent that comes from The University's Illustration department. Jeremy Goodfellow's illustrations remind me of Tim Burton movies, like the Beetlejuice cartoon with the soft, spooky fog of Sleepy Hollow. David Adams' accordion book, also cartoonish, is a whimisical, graffiti-inspired tour of Philadelphia, perfect for anyone who may be missing the City of Brotherly Love from afar. Millie Landis has fully utilized the possibilities of offset printing with a three-color work that gazes out over a watery scene, three characters in shades of orange and yellow jumping off the page and over the ocean. Book Arts students Susan Weinz, Bobby Rosenstock and Amanda Benton have all illustrated their own bookworks as well, walking the line I love so much in an artist's book- work that appeals to the child inside of us, but whose content is created for a grown-up audience, more often than not with a sense of humor.
Gordon Sexton and Crystal Shepherd come to the class from the Graphic Design department and bring wonderfully different styles to the book concept. While Shepherd's collection of boomboxes against graffiti backgrounds could be considered an homage to old school design of the 1980s, Sexton's exploration of designing a font reminds us that any good modern design comes with a disciplined understanding of the classics.
Other elaborately ambitious and exciting Borowsky books will be available by Alisa Fox, Andrew Huot, Robert Lewis, Michael Meulstee, Terry Peterson, Tova Rein and Victoria Sadicario. Many more books, prints, handmade paper and other goods will be available at the BOOK PARTY. At least one of these offset books should find their way onto your bookshelf this holiday season.
UArts Book Arts/Printmaking Department's Annual BOOK PARTY
Thursday, December 18, 2008
4:00-7:00 pm
Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
While the visiting artists are always interesting, be it for their content or their outlandish print wishes (Gigantic solids? Easy, says Ms. Spencer. Handmade paper? Let's try it!), there are a small number of students every semester who use the press to create some of the cleanest, most finished and realized projects they have ever had the opportunity to make. Spencer teaches a class entitled Book Production, a course that takes students through the entire gamut of a book in only three months- from conception to a dozen dummies, followed by five press runs and a frantic binding period with a looming deadline: the Book Arts/Printmaking department's annual Book Party. Students produce editions in 100 plus copies and their biggest selling push comes at the party, when their work is still hot off the press.
THIS YEAR the Book Party is on Thursday, December 18, from 4:00-7:00 in Hamilton Hall, South Broad and Pine Streets in Philadelphia, PA. This year there are a record twenty students in the class, and in true form, Spencer has said yes to every project that came across the proofing table. With so many students from a variety of disciplines, you are guaranteed to find an appropriate gift for anyone this holiday season.
Greg Pizzoli and Ansley Joe have both created wonderfully illustrated children's books. Pizzoli's book, The Great Race, contains illustrations reminiscent of classic 1970s childrens' books but with a more modern color palette. Joe's book is guaranteed to entertain as interactive elements tell the story of two children digging their way through the backyard and into China.
Erin Sweeney has created another interactive work, a puppet theatre full of feisty broads with background stories and a decadent stage. Easily enticing to any young child who loves to play with dolls, Sweeney's stage characters appeal to an adult audience as well with their vaudevillian sense of style.
It may be important to note at this point that none of the books have been completed. There are still two days of printing to go, but I have had the privilege of seeing nearly every piece in its development, and I am continually impressed with the talent that comes from The University's Illustration department. Jeremy Goodfellow's illustrations remind me of Tim Burton movies, like the Beetlejuice cartoon with the soft, spooky fog of Sleepy Hollow. David Adams' accordion book, also cartoonish, is a whimisical, graffiti-inspired tour of Philadelphia, perfect for anyone who may be missing the City of Brotherly Love from afar. Millie Landis has fully utilized the possibilities of offset printing with a three-color work that gazes out over a watery scene, three characters in shades of orange and yellow jumping off the page and over the ocean. Book Arts students Susan Weinz, Bobby Rosenstock and Amanda Benton have all illustrated their own bookworks as well, walking the line I love so much in an artist's book- work that appeals to the child inside of us, but whose content is created for a grown-up audience, more often than not with a sense of humor.
Gordon Sexton and Crystal Shepherd come to the class from the Graphic Design department and bring wonderfully different styles to the book concept. While Shepherd's collection of boomboxes against graffiti backgrounds could be considered an homage to old school design of the 1980s, Sexton's exploration of designing a font reminds us that any good modern design comes with a disciplined understanding of the classics.
Other elaborately ambitious and exciting Borowsky books will be available by Alisa Fox, Andrew Huot, Robert Lewis, Michael Meulstee, Terry Peterson, Tova Rein and Victoria Sadicario. Many more books, prints, handmade paper and other goods will be available at the BOOK PARTY. At least one of these offset books should find their way onto your bookshelf this holiday season.
UArts Book Arts/Printmaking Department's Annual BOOK PARTY
Thursday, December 18, 2008
4:00-7:00 pm
Hamilton Hall
320 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Pyramid Atlantic 2008
I just returned to Philly, and must point out two things:
1) There are a lot of new people making books, and
2) A chunk of them are from Philly.
We were an army of ladies across the back of the emerging artist section of the Fair, and I was told we were friendly, relaxed, and well-spoken on issues ranging from preferred ways for our books to be displayed to the content of our work. I give Susan Viguers a great amount of credit, as well as Patty Smith and Mary Phelan.
Also, the MFA students from the Alabama program are lovely, and they seem to want to come up for the Hybrid Book conference in June. It seems we have made some good ties with VSW and Chicago. It's time to get Alabama up here!
I swear, book reviews are coming soon.
1) There are a lot of new people making books, and
2) A chunk of them are from Philly.
We were an army of ladies across the back of the emerging artist section of the Fair, and I was told we were friendly, relaxed, and well-spoken on issues ranging from preferred ways for our books to be displayed to the content of our work. I give Susan Viguers a great amount of credit, as well as Patty Smith and Mary Phelan.
Also, the MFA students from the Alabama program are lovely, and they seem to want to come up for the Hybrid Book conference in June. It seems we have made some good ties with VSW and Chicago. It's time to get Alabama up here!
I swear, book reviews are coming soon.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Contemporary Artists' Books Conference in NYC: Books of Interest
Based on the three days of presentations, this is my Christmas Wishlist:
From Picture Box Inc., Publishers:
Gore, Black Dice
Elle-Homour, Julie Doucet
The Magnificent Excess of Snoop-Dogg, Katherine Bernhardt
For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis (not released yet)
Any one of North Drive Press's Mobile Group Exhibitions (though 1,2 and 3 are sold out, 4 is still available and 5 is on its way)
From J&L Books:
The American War, Harrell Fletcher
The Company of Strangers, Gus Powell
Ok Ok Ok, Mike Slack
Published by Bookworks in London:
Err, David Shrigley
Meeting #13, Jonathan Monk
After the Freud Museum, Susan Hiller
From Susan Meisalas:
Carnival Strippers
From Joachim Schmid:
Big Fish
Flashing
On the Road
Self
Sites
From Rirkrit Tiravanija (find his work on Amazon and in the Guggenheim):
Supermarket
Soccer Half-Time Cookery Book
Nothing
From Joseph Grigely
Conversation Pieces
Blueberry Surprise
Likely found at Printed Matter, NY:
How to Disappear in America, Seth Price
Book, George Brecht
Statements, Lawrence Weiner
Choosing: Green Beans, John Baldessari
My new favorite testosterone-fueled publisher from LA, 2nd Cannon:
Black and White Reproductions of the Abstract Expressionists, Brian Kennon
Desertshore, Jan Tumlir and Brian Kennon
and if I get only one more book this year, God, let it be
The Cindy Shermans I'd Like to Fuck, Brian Kennon
If I get my hands on any of these, I will review them for this blog.
From Picture Box Inc., Publishers:
Gore, Black Dice
Elle-Homour, Julie Doucet
The Magnificent Excess of Snoop-Dogg, Katherine Bernhardt
For the Love of Vinyl: The Album Art of Hipgnosis (not released yet)
Any one of North Drive Press's Mobile Group Exhibitions (though 1,2 and 3 are sold out, 4 is still available and 5 is on its way)
From J&L Books:
The American War, Harrell Fletcher
The Company of Strangers, Gus Powell
Ok Ok Ok, Mike Slack
Published by Bookworks in London:
Err, David Shrigley
Meeting #13, Jonathan Monk
After the Freud Museum, Susan Hiller
From Susan Meisalas:
Carnival Strippers
From Joachim Schmid:
Big Fish
Flashing
On the Road
Self
Sites
From Rirkrit Tiravanija (find his work on Amazon and in the Guggenheim):
Supermarket
Soccer Half-Time Cookery Book
Nothing
From Joseph Grigely
Conversation Pieces
Blueberry Surprise
Likely found at Printed Matter, NY:
How to Disappear in America, Seth Price
Book, George Brecht
Statements, Lawrence Weiner
Choosing: Green Beans, John Baldessari
My new favorite testosterone-fueled publisher from LA, 2nd Cannon:
Black and White Reproductions of the Abstract Expressionists, Brian Kennon
Desertshore, Jan Tumlir and Brian Kennon
and if I get only one more book this year, God, let it be
The Cindy Shermans I'd Like to Fuck, Brian Kennon
If I get my hands on any of these, I will review them for this blog.
Contemporary Artists' Books Conference in NYC: Quotables
More later on this amazing event, but I just wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from the panelists and speakers over the three day event:
Emily Larned from Booklyn advised any thrifty artist to invest two grand in a letterpress and some cases of type. They don't need to be upgraded every few years like your laptop, and you can take comfort in the fact that they don't become more obsolete than they already are.
Matvei Yankelevich from Ugly Duckling Press, an independent publisher of poetry:
We are publishing a lot of contemporary work, and no one likes that.
Poetry is not worth the paper it's printed on.
Elisabeth Long of Chicago preaches book arts gospel:
I stumbled into criticism as a way of being an artist.
Reading an artist's book is a whole brain experience.
It's expensive to get into this field.
Buzz Spector:
Writers write books, authors pose for dust jackets.
Dr. Cornelia Lauf breaks down the book artist/ artist who makes books debate:
Creativity is not medium-based. Gerhard Richter makes great artists' books because he makes great art.
Jason Fulford of J&L Books:
When deciding how to layout the book, Harold says the content should dictate the form, and you can save yourself a lot of energy by following that.
Luc Derycke of Imschoot:
There is something mental about books. In this idea, he explains that the book work acts as a traveling exhibition. When you look at the image, what is not there (the work) is suddenly there (in your mental space).
David Senior, Bibliographer for the MoMA:
I realize setting up a panel of non-profit art publishers, it's a redundant term.
Joachim Schmid:
There's not many decisions in my life. Most things just happen.
If you want a book by me, you'd better buy what I offer.
Books are the kind of thing, you should have a sandwich in one hand and a book in the other.
Sandra Kroupa, University of Washington Libraries:
It's not my job to collect pieces that I like or speak to my personal interest.
I'm puzzled by the fact that we struggle to say, this is an Artist's Book... I'm puzzled by this field's need to make this narrow definition.
Barbara Bader, on the same panel on criticism as Sandra Kroupa, on why she undertook a study of the field:
... after 30 years of discourse, one still can not find a definition of what an artist's book is.
Sara Reisman, curator:
There are these rituals attached to books that we don't even think of.
Emily Larned from Booklyn advised any thrifty artist to invest two grand in a letterpress and some cases of type. They don't need to be upgraded every few years like your laptop, and you can take comfort in the fact that they don't become more obsolete than they already are.
Matvei Yankelevich from Ugly Duckling Press, an independent publisher of poetry:
We are publishing a lot of contemporary work, and no one likes that.
Poetry is not worth the paper it's printed on.
Elisabeth Long of Chicago preaches book arts gospel:
I stumbled into criticism as a way of being an artist.
Reading an artist's book is a whole brain experience.
It's expensive to get into this field.
Buzz Spector:
Writers write books, authors pose for dust jackets.
Dr. Cornelia Lauf breaks down the book artist/ artist who makes books debate:
Creativity is not medium-based. Gerhard Richter makes great artists' books because he makes great art.
Jason Fulford of J&L Books:
When deciding how to layout the book, Harold says the content should dictate the form, and you can save yourself a lot of energy by following that.
Luc Derycke of Imschoot:
There is something mental about books. In this idea, he explains that the book work acts as a traveling exhibition. When you look at the image, what is not there (the work) is suddenly there (in your mental space).
David Senior, Bibliographer for the MoMA:
I realize setting up a panel of non-profit art publishers, it's a redundant term.
Joachim Schmid:
There's not many decisions in my life. Most things just happen.
If you want a book by me, you'd better buy what I offer.
Books are the kind of thing, you should have a sandwich in one hand and a book in the other.
Sandra Kroupa, University of Washington Libraries:
It's not my job to collect pieces that I like or speak to my personal interest.
I'm puzzled by the fact that we struggle to say, this is an Artist's Book... I'm puzzled by this field's need to make this narrow definition.
Barbara Bader, on the same panel on criticism as Sandra Kroupa, on why she undertook a study of the field:
... after 30 years of discourse, one still can not find a definition of what an artist's book is.
Sara Reisman, curator:
There are these rituals attached to books that we don't even think of.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Patty Melt
Shameless Self- Promotion:
Check out my newest project (that will conclude itself in book form a month from now) at www.thepattymelt.blogspot.com
And also, another UArts MFA Book Arts/Printmaking show, opening October 31, 2008, at Broad and Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA. Check out what the next round of book artists are doing at "Are We There Yet?" A second year Works-In-Progress show.
Check out my newest project (that will conclude itself in book form a month from now) at www.thepattymelt.blogspot.com
And also, another UArts MFA Book Arts/Printmaking show, opening October 31, 2008, at Broad and Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA. Check out what the next round of book artists are doing at "Are We There Yet?" A second year Works-In-Progress show.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
