Skip to Main Content
CCAD

Library & Information Technology

Book Works Podcast Show Notes: Podcast #1: What is an Artists' Book?

Transcript

What IS an artists' book? 

Hi, and welcome to the CCAD Packard Library’s Book Works Podcast where we feature books in our collection, new and old, and talk about the history of the book from an artist’s perspective. My name is Chris Mannix, and I’m the Instruction Librarian and caretaker of the library’s rare books, comics, and artists’ books collections.

In today’s podcast we’re going to talk about artists’ books. What is an artists’ book? Well, every book artist and artists’ book aficionado seems to have their own definition, but one thing’s for sure -- artists’ books are not books about art but are works of art in their own right. The Smithsonian Libraries defines artists’ books  as "a medium of artistic expression that uses the form or function of [the] “book” as inspiration. It is the artist’s choice of materials, imagery, layout and design that makes it an art object." Book artists use a wide variety of structures, including the traditional codex [which is what we generally think of as a book] as well as other forms like scrolls, fold-outs, accordions, or loose items contained in a box. Artists’ books can be handmade or machine made, unique or created in multiples. They’ve been made of paper, fabric, plastic, glass, lead, and processed cheese slices. They can even be unreadable! The common factor in all of them is that the creators think of their creations as both a work of art and a book.

Traditionally, artists’ books fall into several categories. They include:

Democratic Multiples: Democratic multiples are a variety of inexpensive artists’ books sold cheaply or even given away. Usually they are machine printed and bound, and they are often paperbacks made with a so-called “perfect binding” - which is probably the biggest oxymoron in the binding world. Perfect bound books are loose pages glued along the spine edge, which means that pages frequently fall out with heavy use. It’s not the most stable of bindings, and as a librarian, I have to say, they are a pain to repair. 

The term Democratic Multiples was coined in the 1960’s to describe a spirit of DIY and affordability, but in a practical sense, Democratic Multiples may not be the best name for them. While they are usually cheap to buy, they have limited distribution. It’s not like you can buy them at your local Barnes & Noble, and good luck finding any on Amazon. Johanna Drucker, a well-known maker and historian of artists’ books, has pointed out that since many of them are conceptual in origin, there’s no guarantee that the content is accessible to everyone, and if you can’t understand it, is it really democratic? Today, with the internet and print-on-demand, democratic multiples are more popular than ever. We have many examples of this genre in the CCAD Special Collections from artists like Sol Lewitt, Duane Michals, Ann Hamilton, and Dieter Roth.

Another category is Livre d'Artiste: This is a book designed to display original prints or illustrations by a famous artist. Picasso and Matisse were especially prolific makers of livres d'artistes. With livres d’artiste, the emphasis is on the artwork more than the construction of the book, though that’s important, too. Our library has a stunning example, Etchings illustrating Chaucer's 'Canterbury tales' by British artist Elisabeth Frink. It’s huge, 2 feet by 3 feet and 6 inches thick when closed, printed on gorgeous handmade paper with letterpress, and the images are done in etching and aquatint. There’s often an overlap with fine press books since many livres d'artiste are made with fine papers and bindings. Which brings us to...

Fine Press Books: Most of the earliest European-style book art fall into this category. Fine Press books use fine papers, good design and binding, and letterpress printing. The emphasis is more on the presentation of the book than the text. Many fine press books have text and images by the maker or in collaboration with an artist. Others use classic texts like Shakespeare or novels like Moby Dick. A good example of this genre of artists’ book would be the Kelmscott Chaucer, published by William Morris in 1896. We have a number of fine press books in the library’s collection from the Circle Press in the UK. 

There are also many artists' books whose focus is on the handmade aspects. I call these Hand-crafted or Craft-centric artists’ books. Some of them use experimental forms, and they may include unusual materials like fabric, glass, or wood. They are usually made by individuals rather than established book presses, though the artist may make up their own publishing press name, like Julie Chen and her Flying Fish Press. This is the category my own work falls into. I publish my artists’ books under the name Ice Weasel Press, but since most of them were printed using a digital inkjet printer on paper or, in the case of my quilted book, The Disobedient Chicken, on fabric, there was no printing press involved!  

The last type we’ll discuss today are Sculptural Books: Sculptural books are 3 dimensional works of art that begin or end with the book form. In the former, books are often disassembled  and reassembled to create new structures. The term "altered books" is sometimes used to describe these works. Brian Dettmer is a well-known maker of this type of sculptural books. His website is listed in the show notes. For the other type of sculptural book, various materials are reinterpreted to form book-like structures. In our collection, we have two books by Bryan Kring that are actually boxes that invite the viewer’s interaction using motion. Super fun! He’s also listed in the show notes.

Well, that’s a brief introduction to various types of artists’ books and some examples from our collection. I hope you’ve enjoyed it. Check out the resource list in the show notes for links and a bibliography.  If you’re interested in seeing some examples of artists’ books, follow the CCAD Packard Library on Instagram or Facebook or go to our Book and Paper Arts LibGuide. Until next time! Bye!