Artists' books - first definitions

Water Yam by George Brecht

This week I have been looking at artist's books - what are they? What do they look like? What makes them different from other 'books'? My initial definition, before doing further reading, is below:

An artist's book is a collection of the artist's, thoughts, ideas, and interpretations, abstract or otherwise, represented through textual and visual elements. Often artist's books examine and address the physical, structural concept of the 'book' and subvert, or modify this in some way. Artist's books do not necessarily maintain a 'story' or chronological sequence of events or ideas, nor are they necessarily collective - however a theme or mood is usually consistent throughout.

However, after considering this definition and looking at several examples of works termed as 'artist's books' I am uncertain that everything fitting this description is necessarily a 'book'. Look, for example, at Water Yam by George Brecht (above). This is considered an artist's book. It consists of various groupings of text printed on separate, various sized pieces of card/paper, contained within a matchbox type container. I assume that this would be considered a book as it involves the grouping together of text on multiple planes with a common theme. Looking back at my first definition of  a book earlier this year, it would seem that this is indeed in accordance:

• It should be multiplanar – not necessarily separate physical pages, but also including blocks marked out in scrolls, or page separators in electronic formats.

• These planes should be linked by some sort of relationship, and should be gathered together to form a whole, and bound in some way.

• A book’s purpose is to convey its content. This can be done as creatively as you like, but if the form of the book – physical, graphically, or otherwise – obscures the content, it becomes art and is no longer a book.

Yet, the more I look at books, artist's books, illustrated books, and sculptures based on books, it is the binding that becomes important. When I say 'binding' of course I mean the way the pages are collected together. I think that they must be physically attached to one another, whether this be in the form of folds, like a concertina book, joined by their existence on the same sheet of paper, like a scroll, or bound in a traditional codex form. The livres d' artiste that we looked at earlier in the semester were often sold as separate sheets in a box, much like Water Yams. The important distinction, at least in my book (pardon the pun) is that those pages were intended to be bound together by the buyer. If they were framed separately, they ceased to be a book and functioned more as pieces of art or design. And of course that is another central issue about artists' books - some maintain the book form, and others are intended are works of art, more like sculptures than books.

So where does that leave us when it comes to artist's books? Certainly, some can be considered 'books'. Tom Phillips' A Humument, when displayed in its original entirety, or in the published fascimile editions is undoubtedly a book, albeit an 'altered' book. Published editions such as the 1970 version however, consisting of ten silk-screen pages presented in a box, no longer fits the description of a book. To take an example from our study guide, "An exhibit in an exhibition comprising a book that is bound up so it cannot be opened", in my opinion, cannot be considered a book as it doesn't convey the information contained within. Anne-Maree Hunter's Tower of Babel (below) may at first appear to be a sculpture rather than a book, but on closer inspection is actually a scroll, upended, and shaped into a tower. When unscrolled, the inner side of the paper tells the story of the Tower of Babel in several languages.Although Hunter explains that the text overlaps to indicate the confusion of the workers who constructed the tower according to the original story, if the text is still legible, I would definitely consider this a book because it is 'bound' together, conveys information, and has a common thread throughout.

Anne-Maree Hunter, Tower of Babel

I have come to the conclusion that not all artists' books are meant to function as books, nor are they even intended to be books. Some are purely sculptural. Some are functional. Some retain the textual capacity of traditional books. Clever artists like Hunter manage to combine all of these ideas into one work. Ultimately though, as indicated by the wide array of arguments and definitions of 'what is a book' and of course, 'what is an artist's book', the final decision is left up to the viewer.

Sources:

Grahame galleries + editions, "Stand 5 - Psyclonic Studios / Anne-Maree Hunter". Accessed May, 2011: http://www.grahamegalleries.com/category/fair/stand-5-psyclonic-studios-anne-maree-hunter/

Tom Phillips,  "Introduction to A HUMUMENT", Humument.com, 2008. Accessed May, 2011: http://www.humument.com/intro.html