Reflection and Evaluation: End of Session - 7th June

I found this subject more enjoyable the second time round, having a lot less on my plate and therefore a lot less to worry about, which left me able to concentrate on each topic.

The topics that I found most interesting were the ones that I was able to relate to or the ones that I were able to find an element to focus and expand on eg. fore edged printing for illuminated manuscripts.

I thought that I did well to work my way through the study guide and use the objectives, questions and study activities to aid my learning. I often forgot to look at the readings on the CD but I found the Art and Books site very useful and also did a lot of my own research.

Topic 1:

Discussing what a books is has been one of my favourite topics both years. Having done it twice now I am quite confident in my definition now and I don't think that I'd change it. I found that the easiest way to come up with a definition was to create boundaries. As if you leave things to open then anything could fall into the definition. I liked reading everyone else's definitions and comparing them to my own and wondering how definitions in the future may change and evolve with technology. I decided to do further research on this topic by thinking about how a blind person might define a book, assuming that there definitions would be based purely on form and feel rather than the structure and content.

Topic 2:

I love looking at illuminated manuscripts. Everyone agrees that they have such beautiful decorations and illustrations and they had such a long and careful process in order to create them which I personally believe is enough to class them as art. Another topic which there was a lot of debate on. The part of this topic I enjoyed the most was picking fore edged printing as my further studies. To begin with, I didn't actually know that it was a part of illuminated manuscripts, but it just shows how far research can take you. I think that I would like to read further about what art is. I would like to read some more discussions on what art is and what classifies as art. Not that I think there will ever be a unanimous answer but it's an interesting discussion.

Topic 3:

I wasn't as interested in this topic as the rest. Having done this twice now I struggled to find something new and exciting to research. I found myself sticking to most of the objectives in the study guide rather than finding my own points. The essay also cut into this topic so I feel like that would've taken my interest away as well. I think the most interesting part of this topic was looking at the publications that William Morris produced on his Kelmscott Press. I managed to find a site that showed the different works with some interesting facts on each one.

Topic 5:

This topic was great for me as it was something new. As I chose children's books last year, I leaped at the opportunity to study something new. It was a topic I was fairly unfamiliar with so I felt that I didn't get as much out of it as I would like to and therefore would like to read more about the history of. The topic really emphasized how much comic strips really harness movie techniques into them to create time, action, sound, etc.

I would like to look into Japanese comics as it was something I skipped over. 

I really enjoyed looking up some more fun comic facts to break up from the constant history research in the previous topics. My favourite part of this topic was looking at the history of Winsor McCay and Little Nemo in Slumberland. It was such a fascinating comic strip and I would love to get my hands on a few to read. I also enjoyed relating a story from my childhood to the theme of that comic strip.

Topic 6:

I spent the most time on this topic out of all of them as it was my essay topic. I actually had enough of it by the second week and struggled to find more information to talk about for the second journal entry. But I loved reading the different points of views on what an artist's book is from artist's and scholars and feel that I successfully delivered my point of view on the definition in my essay. I don't think there is much else I could revisit on this topic. I liked reading about Angela Lorenz and think that she has become one of my most favourite and inspirational artists. I like the work she produces and how she does it - relating every part of her piece to her research and theme. She is an artist who I would like to continue to revisit.

Topic 7: 

I started to get lazy with this last topic, anticipating the end of uni. But once again I enjoyed the discussions on the future of the book the most, being able to relate my love for the physical book vs my love for technology to the topic.

I think overall the topics that I enjoyed the most were the ones that I was able to find an interesting part to focus on that I had't noticed before. It was a struggle with some topics having to do them a second time round, but finding something new to research made them a lot more interesting and lead to me finding other parts that I would like to research further out of class. In conclusion I found that I was quite successful in working my way through the study guide and have found that I have a lot more knowledge on some of the topics then what I did before. I have become a lot more open to other peoples points of views in discussions and have found that they can help aid my own points of view. I have also discovered a few new favourite artists as well.

Digital Era: Week Two - 3rd June

The Physical Book vs. Technology:
I decided to list points for both the physical book and technological advancements in order to evaluate the future of the book.
First of all;
The fact that despite the technological advancements to date, books are still being produced. So this hasn't caused as much of an issue as was predicted. In fact, the production of books has actually increased. Books do a much better job at telling a story than movies ever will. There is nothing like using your mind to put together a scene through the descriptive words used by an author. And authors don't have restricted space to tell a story in meaning they don't have to cut anything else. I remember when Harry Potter came out in the movies, having read all the books myself, it was disappointing to see some of the scenes and characters that were a lot different to what was described in the book and the details and what I considered to be some important parts were completely cut out to fit within the usual 2-2.5 hr time limit of the movie. Thank God they split the last book into two movies!!
Library books really are the premium research material with a lot of online articles allowing the public to be able to change information at their own will which can lead to wrong information. Library books store the most information for free! Whereas a lot of internet sites require you to sign up or pay to view some information or books.
Books also offer a unique experience in there form as well. Many people on the forum have stated numerous times how they simply enjoy the feel of the book, being able to turn the pages, the crackle of opening a new book for the first time and the sound of turning the pages. Some have even noted the smell of a new book. These are experiences that you can't have with an electronic device.

On the other hand...

Technology has made for many advancements that have aided the book as well including printing, production, publication, distribution. It has given us e books and e readers which allow us to store numerous books in the one place, meaning we save on storage, we can take them anywhere and access them where ever we want along with other documents and information as well, we can also lie in bed with the light off and still be able to read. Technology has given artists another medium to explore through digital art and online exhibitions and portfolios. We are able to communicate quicker, shop online, find what we're researching quicker without library deadlines, read magazines, newspapers and articles online all within the comfort of our home. It has become quite a convenience. Schools are really beginning to harness the use of technology by accessing textbooks online. This allows schools to be cheaper for parents, the ability to access textbooks and schoolwork online, and eliminates the excuse of 'Miss, I forgot to bring mine'.

Although there seems to be a lot more points for the technology side, I don't think that it'll replace the physical book anytime soon. As long as there are people out there who treasure the 'book experience', I think that the demand will keep them in print. Perhaps in the future, as technology advances further and further, books may become outdated (much like the scroll or tablet). But hopefully, by the time this happens we won't be around to see it.

Digital Era: Week One - 27th May

I think the best way to define Hypertext is to think of it as a link on a webpage, at least that's how I see it. Hypertext is a way of organising and presenting information linked together that a reader can navigate in a non-linear way. It can also include tables, graphs and some images. Static hypertext can be used to cross-reference collections of data in documents, software applications, or books on CDs. On computers hypertext is accessed through hyperlinks that connect relevant pages to each other. This allows for the browser to select and skip to the part of information that they need. Much like a hyperlink, encyclopedias harness similar methods to access hypertext. Encyclopedias link information by organising its subjects alphabetically and the use of cross referencing to make links between relevant pieces of information and causes the viewer to read in a non-linear way. I think that contents and index's also aid hypertext and links by creating a quick reference to pieces of information. When images, sounds and animations and videos come into the mix we end up with hypermedia. The world wide web itself is a giant collection of hypermedia.



Arguably, the first hypermedia work was the Aspen Movie Map which was developed by Andrew Lippman

and an MIT team in 1978. The system allowed its user to take a virtual tour through Aspen, Colarado. Users were able to choose their path down various streets, clicking on certain buildings allowed the viewer to see interior shots, menus, videos etc. A navigation map also allowed a user to quickly jump to a chosen part of the city







Another example of hypermedia that relates more to books is Ruth Hadlow's 'Patternbook'. This online book features most of what a physical book does. It has a spine, pages bound together, text, images and even gives the illusion of different materials. The only difference is, you can't hold it, but you can physically turn the pages of the book (with your mouse of course). After reading about hypertext and hypermedia, I was expecting a lot more from this example in relation. Perhaps being abble to jump back and forth between pages throughout the book other then the next and previous ones, and perhaps some links to take you to different sections, or even simply some more images, videos, animations etc. As the book is, it displays sequential pages with animation of turning pages. There is also some ambience in the background giving the illusion of reading in a public place. Perhaps it even links to the text (I must admit I did not read any of it for lack of interest). I found that the parts that I was most interested in were the pages in between the text that displayed cut outs, different paper mediums, and hand written texts.

Topic 6 Week 2: Artist's Books - 20th May

Having done this topic as my essay I have done plenty of research. But I struggled this week to try and find something interesting to post on my journal having already written a post in the holidays, written my essay, posted on the forum and written a journal last week. I've flooded myself with Artist's Books and am finding it hard to come up with new information without repeating myself. So perhaps this week I will focus my journal on one particular artist of an Artist's book who interests me most.

Angela Lorenz;
I decided to further study Angela Lorenz because (apart from actually featuring in my essay) seems to be one of the Artist's who are more open to the ideas of an Artist's book believing that anyone can make Artist's books whether they are an artist, a writer or a philosopher. I also like her work!
Angela Lorenz is a modern American artist who has created many Artist’s Books that deeply explore the uses of mixed media and the book form.

• Sunday Stone- Light Verse Magazines Vol.III (2009-2010) : This Artist's Book was made in an edition of only 30 copies. The piece was based on composite minerals from pipes and water troughs
  
  of coal mines in England and Scotland. A black and white rock was found that recorded work patterns of the employees - black stripes (water with coal dust) indicating days of work and white ones days off (usually sundays and thicker white lines for longer holidays such as Christmas when the water ran clean). This piece incorporates many different elements relating to this period in the 19th Century including; black and white pages, handwritten poem on carbon paper (writing/working in the dark), glow in the dark fish skeletons on the back (light experimentation in the mines), ghost like fossil plant on front cover (workers feared evil spirits that may dwell in the mines, fossils of plants that miners couldn't link an origin to).

I like Angela Lorenz's work because of the amount of research that she puts into her works. They aren't just something she throws together. The title, the meaning, colours, materials, images and functions all connect to a central theme. Her works all really play with and test the form and function of a book by either; removing the binding, changing the shape, using different materials etc. Lorenz tries to be the sole producer for her works, but of course uses helpers when she explores a medium she hasn't tried before. I also like that all of her pieces look like they need to be touched, and need to be pulled apart and looked over and over in order to discover all parts of the story.

 

Topic 6: Artist's Books - 13th May

I found it very difficult to try and seperate the differences between Livre d'artiste and Artist's Books. They are so closely related that many of the below examples could really be placed into either category.

Before the Artist's Book movement became a separate field in the 20th Century, there was a lot of experimenting with 'Livre d'artiste'. An art dealer named Ambroise Vollard is considered to be the originator of Livre d'artiste and although the translation suggests that these and artist's books are the same, it is important to note the differences and the evolution from Livre d'artiste into Artist's Books. 

Livre d'artiste are books that have been illustrated by artists. They differ from regular illustrated books as the artist works personally as the printer or works very closely with the master printer to created individual prints especially for the book. Some key features of Livre d'artiste included large sized formats, hand colouring, fine binding and the use of rare materials. The original prints were often made from a material which allows limited uses and therefore limited editions. These books were created for a high end market. Artists like Picasso and Matisse were involved in experimenting with Livre d’artiste.

Although they are much like Livre d’artiste, there are some notable characteristics that Artist's Books had that Livre d’artiste didn't. Livre d’artiste was still very structural and traditional, with a distinction between image and text on facing pages. They didn't challenge the book structure to become a part of the production, theme or the books intention like Artist's Books did. The artist and writer didn't often meet in the production of Livre d’artiste. These kinds of books were often made to the editor’s vision and were visually pleasing to meet the markets expectations. Whereas, the artists of Artist's Books were involved in most details of the books creation. They tried to blur the boundaries between the image and text so that the books were an expression and creation of their own. Many Artist's books are produced on a low budget provided from the artist. They took advantage of independent printing which allowed them to have all the power in the production and publication of their book. However, craftiness doesn’t always make something into an Artist's Book. Artist's attempt to bend and stretch the rules of craft and book arts, much like they do with the book structure. 

There are some other distinguishing points for Artist's Books. These include the fact that they are often (but not always) portable, have a case for storage, protection, and transportation which is often integrated into the design of the book, they use mixed media, they are made to be touched and interacted with, and they have different display possibilities e.g. hanging, flat or as a performance book. 

                         

Topic 5 Week 2: Comics and Graphic Novels - 6th May

Winsor McCay was an American animator and cartoonist. McCay created popular comic strips including Little Nemo, Little Sammy Sneeze and Dream of the Rarebit Fiend. He also produced a number of animated films. Between 1903 and 1911 McCay produced many comic strips for many companies.

I found Winsor McCay's journey into making comic strips professionally quite interesting for the simple fact that he had so many obstacles throughout his life with people trying to hold him back and keep him in one place. I admire his perseverance to draw as much as he could. To begin with, McCay harnessed his quick drawing skills and great attention to detail to draw portraits as an attraction at an amusement park. This was his first step into the art world, even though his parents didn't approve of this as a career path. What followed was a series of jobs as a printer, then an artist, followed by a sign painter and eventually he landed himself a job making drawings for a local paper and also submitting drawings to other magazines. This is where McCay developed his skills in using a pen to create his drawings.

Winsor McCay became one of the first cartoonists to master the use of cinematic features in his drawings. This included things like cinemascope, tracking, panning, pacing, motion and even special effects.
In 1903 he accepted his job at the New York Herald creating comic strips.

Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905-1911), was a real hit from McCay which eventually made its way to broadway. Little Nemo was a little boy who had amazing dreams which were the theme for the weekly strip. It sounds like it would have been quite a cute comic strip, with the stories initially being about Little Nemo's adventures to King Morpheus' realm, "Slumberland" to meet playmate Princess Camille. However, his journey was often dark, surreal and violent and the comic strip often ended with Nemo waking up in his bedroom having suffered from a disaster or even death within his dream. The story eventually branched out to other imaginary lands as well.
I found it funny in a way to discover that Nemo, in Latin, actually means nobody. It makes for an interesting translation when you substitute it in... Little Nobody in Slumberland.. or even into the pixar film 'Finding Nemo' - Finding Nobody?

The stories of Little Nemo remind me of "Max and Moritz" a German stories about two mischievous children who always ended up in a bad way. My grandma used to read them to us (translating them to english) when I was little. They were funny but I don't think we truly understood the stories and black humour. I think this is why I took such interest in Little Nemo. Within my research I found that Max and Moritz may have influenced some German comic strips Katzenjammer Kids and Quick & Flupke. I've attached the below image to show one of the situations that the twins get themselves into. Unfortunately I couldn't put the whole story in because they are not in the comic strip format and therefore take up a few pages. Basically though after playing many tricks, the twins are caught, thrown in the mill and eaten by ducks. The twins constantly meet a terrible fate in their stories after being menaces to the other townfolk.

Comic Fun Facts

* Marvel was first known as timely comics (it was set up by a New York magazine publisher in 1939). It went from timely comics to Atlas and finally Marvel in 1961

* Marvel once owned the rights to the word 'Zombie'.

* The comics code authority forbade the use of werewolves in comics around 1969

* Marvel was the first comic company to give a black superhero his own comic book

* Superman was the first comic book super hero

* in 1946 when comic book sales in the US were out selling traditional books, concerned parents, teachers and libraries intervened by gathering and burning the books - a ritual which was later condemned

* The idea to use big eyes on anime characters came from American cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse, Bambi and Betty Boop

* The most simultaneously published comic strip is Peanuts by Charles Schulz, which appears in 2,620 different newspapers in 75 different countries

* The earliest cartoon strip named 'The Yellow Kid', was shown in the New York Journal in 1896

* The Addams family was originally a cartoon for The New Yorker

Topic 5: Comics and Graphic Novels - 29th April Week 9

I found this topic the most interesting out of all the topics this session as it's one I didn't look at last year (having chose children's books in 2012 as it was what drew me to the subject in the first place.

Without doing any research, my definition of a comic book is: a picture orientated story with captions that's purpose is to entertain, mostly through the use of humor. They are often short strips that try to entertain in a few frames but also can be book length novels.
I'm yet to decide whether there is a difference between comics and cartoons. When I think of cartoons I generally think of the animated version on TV. But for the purposes of this topic that's not the type of cartoon we're after. Perhaps cartoons refer to single image political cartoons you find in the paper opposed to comic strips? Most likely there will be a difference between cartoons on paper and comics but I get the feeling, based on the past topics, that there the two will have overlapping characteristics.

The most common features of a comic include:

• the 'comic strip - a narrative in the form of sequential pictures, sometimes with text
•  they are usually published regularly eg. weekly or monthly
• they're normally very cheap in order to reach a wide audience
• bordered panels to breakdown the action into sections
• speed lines, speech and think bubbles, symbolism and strong character expressions
• text including; narrative, dialogue and sound effects (onomatopoeic)
• everything is done in shorthand that allows readers to fill the gaps using their imagination
• they are able to compress or extend time
• they are highly effective  in conveying lots of information in limited space.
• they can be compared to movie story boards with their use of camera angles

True to a lot of the definitions in this subject, these points apply to MOST comics and of course there are some exceptions..

Comics which can also be referred to as comic strips and comic books, originate back to the late 1800's, however some Japanese comics have a history that dates back to the 13th C. Comics are able to be mass produced quickly and inexpensively. The idea is to communicate a point quickly and directly. In order to do this they tend to incorporate the use of stereotypes and cliches.

The Printed Book Week 2 - 22nd April

During my research of the Gutenberg Bible and William Morris and the Kelmscott Presss, I was interested to find that: The Gutenberg Bible is the first surviving book printed from moveable type on a printing press. This was created by Johann Gutenberg around the same time of the introduction of paper - which was less expensive than vellum and available in a higher quantity. Gutenberg (having been trained as a goldsmith) was able to create a metal type that was suitable for printing, was sufficient in quantity and low in cost. There were several versions of the Gutenberg Bible that were printed both on paper and vellum.The Gutenberg Bible used nearly 300 characters of type including upper case, lower case, ligatures, and punctuation marks. Germany is currently home to the most copies of the Gutenberg Bible (12 in total but only 4 of them complete).

WIlliam Morris, an influential author and artist, founded the Kelmscott Press in 1891. He used this press to produce his own works as well as reprints of works he deemed important. Morris designed the press with preserving the art and books relationship in mind. It was during this time that mechanism in art was becoming quite popular. Morris liked tradition. He made his own paper for his handmade books and designed two typefaces based on 15th century fonts. In only seven years the small press produced more than 18,000 copies of more than 50 different works. In my research I managed to find a site that showed different publications from the Kelmscott Press and a fact on each one:

The advances in printing technologies allowed for printing to become a less tedious job and less manual labour. As printing became and easier thing to do, the cost became a lot lower and the quantities printed became a lot higher. The most important changes that printing technologies made to the books appearance was the ability to allow images and text to be closer together. To begin with text and images often had to be on separate pages because previous printing techniques only allowed for printing on one side of the page. As printing progressed the image and text grew closer together allow for the two to be right next or even right on top of each other. With these changes the image and text were able to better compliment each other. Text books with diagrams could better aid learning and children's books with images could spark more interest in smaller children who are learning to read as well as illiterate people.

Holidays Week Two: Essay Research - 15th April

As it gets closer to the due date of my essay and the end of the holidays, I've sent majority of my time researching Artist's Books. I've found some interesting points and came to the conclusion that there is no way of completely defining what an Artist's Book is, but have found that it's easier to say what it is not. This way you can allow for many designs that may contain only a few characteristics of an Artist's Book and allows people to have their own opinions. 
Angela Lorenz wrote a good definition of what an Artist's Book isn't:

"They are not children's books
They are not sketch books.
They are not diaries.
They are not blank books.
They are not exhibition catalogs.
They are not reproductions of a body of an artist's work.
They are not art books(a common misnomer).
However, they may parody or play with any of the above, as well as all other standard categories such as novels, self-help books, non-fiction, cookbooks, operating manuals, manifestos, travel guides, essays, etc. Artist's books function in the same way as contemporary art: as an expression of someone's creativity, often with social commentary, but sometimes in a purely abstract way, in absence of words or recognizable imagery."

For the purpose of the essay though I managed to come up with a definition that is broad enough to cover all possibilities for Artist's Books but still covers the important characteristics that can be included. My definition is: An Artist's Book is a flexible term characterising a collection of works, thoughts, ideas and processes gathered together in a book-like form which is created as a piece of original art rather than a reproduction. The artist strives to explore the medium with which he is working with and pushes the book-form beyond its expectations. The Artist's Book plays with the order and hierarchy found within an everyday book and hides its meaning within its folds without losing it entirely, allowing an audience to explore, or question. The artist has most control of all the factors of an Artist's Book including the form, text, imagery, publication and distribution. This allows for the book itself to be a work of art and may be published as small editions or as a one and only. 

I found that the most interesting part of this essay's topic was the constant debate on many factors of the term 'Artist's Book'. It included everything from what classify's as an Artist's Book?, to Where should the apostrophe in Artist's be? There was much criticism related to Artist's Books and their place in the contemporary art world and also with who was allowed to create them. Researcher and Book Artist Sarah Bodman believes that Artist's Books are an important part of the contemporary art world. And even if they are never as widely noticed as a painting or sculpture may be, it simply means that an artist or audience will be able to engage in the books on a more personal level. Angela Lorenz seems to agree saying that Artist's Books are respected but galleries haven't accepted them as much because they have a fear of not being able to sell them. She believes that anyone can make Artist's books whether they are an artist, a writer or a philosopher compared to author Clive Phillpot who states that an Artist's Book is "a book where the artist is the author". But who decides who is an artist or not?  In 'Artist's Books: The Book as a work of Art, 1963-1995' (1995) by Stephen Bury (Librarian and Author), Bury also argues that no matter how inspirational these works are, they cannot be artist's books because they were not made by artists. So we can see how there would often be debates on the terminology used for artist's books. Lorenz hopes that artists making Artist's Books will be able to ignore criticism and keep creating and freely exploring.

I think that there will always be debates on these factors due to everyone's different interpretations (which I talked about in my last post). And with the growth in technology bringing the ability to explore books even more and push the book form to its extremities, will come more topics for debate. Can/Will Artist's Books become a digital/online medium? Personally I think no. The sensation of holding and exploring an Artist's Book personally is one of the most important parts of the books design.

Different Interpretations - End of Week One Holidays - 14th April

During my research for my essay I found myself getting quite frustrated with trying to come up with a definition for Artist's Books that would cover all the necessary points. It sparked a conversation with my mum as I tried to explain to her what an Artist's Book is (thinking that actually voicing my opinion to someone else may help me realise that I could describe one). I told her that finding the right definition for this has been as hard as finding a correct way of defining Art or What a Book is.

She said to me that questions like that, that are so subjective will never be easy to answer due to everyone's differing interpretations. She then gave me a great example of this. She said:
"You could fill a classroom with people and give them coloured pencils and paper, you could then give them instructions of what to draw on that paper eg. draw a square in the top corner, draw a triangle overlapping the square etc. You can almost guarantee that no drawing will be the same." 

Don't all of these pictures have a square in the top corner with a triangle overlapping? But they aren't all the same. Even though the full room could be given the same set of instructions, everyone interpretates them differently. Much in the same way that people have different opinions of what a book is, or what art is, or what an artist's book is. I think that even if there was a precise definition for what any of these are, people would still find holes and see things differently all based on how they interperate it.

Holidays Week One - Essay

During the non-teaching period, my focus has been to plan and begin writing my essay for assessment item two. I have chosen to do the topic on Artist's Books.

What is an artist's book? What differentiates an artist's book from a sketch book or visual journal? 

Your response must demonstrate an awareness of the debate of this topic among book artists and scholars. You will need to look at texts by writers such as Johanna Drucker, Clive Phillpot, Cathy Courtney, or Sarah Bodman. In the end you should draw some conclusions of your own, with reference to specific examples of artist's books.

I've chosen to do this topic in order to expand my knowledge on artist's books, explore different ideas on what can be classified as an artist's books and gain a stronger personal idea and definition of my own.

In order to do this essay I have written points to research and expand on and also to help me with the structure of the essay.

These are the points to be considered;

- A brief history on Artist's Books 

• What are they?
• How they are made
• Types?
• Author/Artist involvement
• When are they made and why?
• What is their purpose - audience?

FIND EXAMPES

- Difference between livre d'artiste and an artists book - the artists book movement

- Difference between artist's book and visual journal - identifying parts

- Artists views on Artist's Books

- Scholars views?

- William Blake - first artist's book?

- Johanna Drucker vs. Phillpot, Courtney or Bodman

- Artist's Books and the 20thC

- My conclusion and personal definition - argue case, use specific examples

Topic 3: The Printed Book; Brief History and Advantages and Disadvantages - 1st April

As books became more popular it was hard to meet the demand by hand production. This meant that an alternative method had to be found, which bought the introduction of printing.
The earliest known printed book was printed in China. Other methods of printing were evidently present in China before Europe e.g. small stamps for seals. However, there is also evidence of similar printing methods dating back to 2270 BC. This included clay tablets and amulets. No ink was used in these instances, the stamp was pushed into the soft material, but the same method was present.
It wasn't just the printing method that needed an update, but the printable material as well. Vellum, which was used in some early printed books, was too expensive for mass production. Paper making was a cheaper method and helped aid the growth of printing technology. Even ink had to be further developed in order to allow it to stick to metal type.

I was interested to find that the method of carving the woodblock for printing is actually called xylography. The woodblock print was created by carving away (along the wood grain) any parts of the woodblock that were not part of the text or image. The raised surface was inked and pressed firmly and evenly onto paper, material or in early printing vellum. The use of woodblock printing was not only for paper printing and had also been used to make patterns on textiles. The method was quite similar to using a stamp. When used for colour printing, different blocks had to be used for different colours. Block printing was even the standard method for producing wallpapers!
There were 3 different ways of printing with woodblocks:

• Stamping - hand pressing the block to paper
• Rubbing - block face up with paper on top which is then rubbed with a hard pad
• Press Printing - device to apply pressure through a rolling bed; originally a screw press and developed after into the steam powered rotary press

Jikji, a Korean Buddhist document, printed in 1377, is the world's oldest existing book that was printed with movable type. Movable type printing used 3 different materials during its development; ceramic (fragile) wood (grainy) and metal (durable).

The type was made by carving the letters in to wood, this was then pressed in to clay to form a mould. These moulds were then filled with the liquid metal. Once set they were filed and scraped of any imperfections and ready to be used for printing.To print with movable type, a metal frame was used to hold metal characters in place. When the frame was full it formed a full page of type. The metal characters could be changed to form different sentences and paragraphs for different pages or documents. Ink is applied and pressed to paper at high pressures.

Johannes Gutenberg is famously known as the first to invent a metal movable type printer in Europe, known as the printing press. However, as said above with Jikji, movable type printing had already began in Asian countries. 

There were some noticeable advantages and disadvantages with both wood block and movable type printing.

Wood Block:

Advantages

• Introduction of paper was a lot cheaper than vellum
• Great for mass production
• Cheaper than metals
• Could be combined with movable type

Disadvantages

• Can take a long time to carve, hours or even days
• Difficult to carve small details

Movable Type:

Advantages 

• Even better for quick mass production
• More durable than wood
• Higher quality and relatively low priced
• Mistakes could be fixed by changing the wrong characters - wood was permanent errors
• Text in frames could be altered or updated for changes made to documents

Disadvantages

• For the Chinese it was easier to keep woodblocks due to their numerous amounts of characters 

Topic 2 - Illuminated Manuscripts and Art - 25th March

The images found in illuminated manuscripts included; illustrations (referred to as miniatures) which could be small within the text or full paged, ornate initial letters, borders and margin decorations. 

The images in illuminated manuscripts were often used to; highlight something relevant in the text, spark an interest in illiterate readers, as an act of worship in gospel books, to aid scientific and medical books, to mark status, to indicate the start of of a chapter, paragraph or sentence, or simply as a decorative element.

I believe that in order to decide whether or not these decorations are classed as art, art has to first be defined.
Art to me is an expression or representation of something that comes from an artist, whether it be an idea, emotion, belief etc. I believe that art can be created in any form as long as it pleases, causes an audience to question, or sparks an emotion - basically has some kind of effect on an audience. 
I think that even though something may not be intended to be viewed as art, it can still be appreciated from an art perspective. 

After coming up with my own definition I decided to compare it with the dictionary definition.
The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines art as; skill acquired by experience, study, or observation,the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects
It's a very broad definition. I think my definition better defines art as art rather than a profession.

As for Illuminated Manuscripts, I think that they can be classified as art. The designs and illustrations within the manuscripts fit within my definition of what art is. The fact that we can look at how these books were made and feel for the creators, and the time took to make them as well as look at decorations and feel pleased with what we see, definitely means that it has an effect on us.

So in believing that illuminated manuscripts are works of art, it then needs to be decided who is the artist? and who is responsible for the finished product?
There are many people involved in the making of the illuminated manuscripts but i think that the actual artists of the final product are the scribes and the illuminators. I think that without them the manuscripts would just be empty books. Even though the artworks or their placing were not decided by the illuminator, and the illustrations were just copies, I still think that the skill involved in creating the illustrations makes the illuminator worthy of being called an artist.

Topic 2 - Illuminated Manuscripts - 18th March

An illuminated manuscript differs to a normal manuscript through its beautiful decorations and illustrations, some which were also decorated with silver and gold. It was a long and careful process to create these beautiful and unique manuscripts.
I was interested to learn that there are 5 different styles of illuminated manuscripts; Insular, Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque and Gothic, all of them with distinct characteristics.

There are also many types of manuscripts which were mostly for religious purposes. They included bibles, service books, musical manuscripts, as well as histories and text books among others.
There were even different types of scripts used.

 I found that watching videos of the manuscripts being made was more interesting and easier to understand rather than reading the long essays about them. One of the other students posted a video that showed everything involved in making the illuminated manuscripts.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aDHJu9J10o

The video shows how the parchment was prepared for the manuscripts by being soaked, stretched, scraped for thickness, rubbed with powders to prepare for writing, cut to size, folded and ruled. It shows how the writing was done by the scribe with a quill and how easily errors were able to be scratched out because of the parchments durability.
The manuscript was decorated with paints and precious metals only after the scribe was finished copying the text. The illuminator first sketched the design then added details. Precious metals were applied first followed by paler shades of paint, then the darker shades, black outlines and white highlights.
The manuscripts were then sewed together in gatherings and bound in a leather covered wood cover. Clasps were added to stop parchment from expanding. Covers could also be decorated.

After much research I took a lot of interest in a particular element of illuminated manuscripts called Fore Edge Painting.
I actually came across Fore Edge Painting while browsing the internet and was instantly reminded of illuminated manuscripts. These paintings are done on the edges of pages and when combined with a gilded edge causes the image to disappear and can only be seen when the pages of the books are fanned out.

The earliest dated fore edge painting is believed to be from 1651 and was a family coat of arms painted on a bible. This form of art originated in the 10th Century where monks cataloguing monastery libraries identified books by lettering 'class marks' on closed edges.

After my research I found that fore edge painting was in fact related to illuminated manuscripts. I found an online glossary for terms in relation to illuminated manuscripts. It also included a catalogue of images of all sorts of illuminated manuscripts. Quite a good site!

http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/illuminatedmanuscripts/GlossA.asp

It's A Book!

I found this video which made me laugh and raised the question of what will a book be in the future? I posted it on the forum to see what other students responses would be. Will people in the future even know what a book is? I tossed up whether to leave this video for the last topic or not but I think it applies to both.

The video received responses such as;

"it really does highlight the different generations"

"Are concentration spans shrinking, or are we becoming pro multi-taskers! It's a fine line."

"it does make one think about whether people will even appreciate being able to access a book or even want to in the future"

"Like many parts of our culture the seeds need planting while still young. I'm a grandpa and have the experience of planting the seeds for reading books with my own kids and now theirs"

'It's a Book' (Video trailer for the book by Lane Smith) 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YvMFLf0K3k

Further Studies - Blind People and books

In my last post i thought that it would be interesting to know how blind people define a book. For people who can see it would be easy for us to be able to look at a book and describe it. I have taken particular interest in a blind persons definition as i feel that they would define them through the feel and function rather than the form and content.
I thought that it was interesting that many articles talked about what a break through eBooks have been for the blind, as I know that myself and others are not quite convinced that eBooks should be classified as a book. I discovered from one article that under 1% of books are published in braille and even smaller proportion of them being children's books.The author of the article states that:

'I have all the sensory hankerings of the book-lover – the smell of the paper; the satisfying crack of opening a new book; the pleasingly rounded feel of the spine – with none of the satisfaction of reading them.' 
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/aug/17/peter-white-books-braille-ereaders)

Blind people now have access to many resources that allow them to read or hear any book that they want. These technologies include; talking books, scanners that turn regular books to braille or synthetic speech and eBoooks. These technologies have made it possible for the reader to decide what they want to read rather than the person who decides which books are published in braille.

Topic 1: The Book Form - 11th March

There are so many interesting points on this topic! So many different ideas, views and discussions to be had on what is a book, and what isn't?

There is such a diverse response to the question, What is a Book? I found it interesting to see what other students felt needed to be included in their definitions and what they decided would be ok to leave out.

There is so much history behind all parts of a book.

Papyrus was used most for making scrolls but cracked when folded so in order to fix this, sheets of papyrus were glued together and rolled up to make scrolls. The text was rolled up on the inside to protect it and while being unrolled with one hand, it had to be rolled up with the other at the same time. Papyrus was fragile and easily damaged by both moisture and dryness. Parchment was more durable but much heavier which wasn't ideal for bigger volumes. The codex evolved from writing tablets.

They had a protective cover, it could be used for both large and small volumes, it was more efficient, portable, easier to store and easier to read.

But is all this history relevant to what makes a book a book today?

The most interesting point that I found in one of the discussions was about Brail in books. It's not something I ever considered when thinking of my own definition. I would be interested to know how a blind person would define a book. I imagine that the physical form would be much the same but what would they say about the content? Perhaps this is something I could try and find more info on.

I do recognise that the definition of a book is culturally specific and I believe that my definition reflects my cultures expectations. This does not mean that I have disregarded other things that may be included in other people's definition of a book. It just means my definition targets my society in 2013 (and more likely the definition most 90's kids would relate to).

One thing I did forget to mention in my definition but I'm not too worried about is that it's not just the form of a book that may differ but also the structure of the content. Books are not always read in the Western convention and I think that as we accept more cultures as a part of our own, it may be important to include their way of reading into my definition. For example, I know that Japanese Manga is very popular among many youth and these books are printed to be read from back to front.

My definition of a book is as follows:

A book typically consists of a cover and pages bound together with the ability to be opened, closed, an pages turned in between. Most commonly a book is made of paper but has been made from other materials in the past. A book has a beginning and an end. It may contain written or printed information, thoughts and ideas, pictures or stories etc. It really could contain anything! 
There are many other things that contain 'book-like' features (eg. an ebook or a scroll), or may be considered perhaps as a 'sub category' of books (eg. a magazine or newspaper).

I think my definition did very well in taking into account many of the points in the study guide. It mentioned; what a book is made of (and acknowledge that it was different in the past), it took in to account the most common physical form of a book and mentioned the idea of other things that have book-like features, it mentioned the idea of a cover, pages and sequence but not necessarily as essential components, and what it may or may not contain. 

After further reading I think my definition will remain as is. The research that I have done has reinforced my ideas of what a book is. I thought it was interesting that the web resource 'The book form: A brief history of the book' on the Art and Books website says that the scroll is considered to be the first book form from around 3000 BC. I disagree. I wonder if scrolls can really be classed as books and if the term 'book' was used at all in this time? Or were they simply just scrolls? I understand that scrolls have 'book-like' features, but I think that scrolls would have a fairly strong definition of their own. I'm learning that there are ways of making the definition of a book less complicated. 

To back up my ideas of what is not a book I read Philip Smith's 'The Whatness of Bookness, or What is a Book'. I strongly agree with Smith and glad I took the time to read the article. I believe that just because something has book-like features, it doesn't make it a book. Smith says in his article that 'The term (book) should not strictly include pre-codex carriers of text such as the scroll or the clay tablet, in fact nothing on a single leaf or planar surface such as a TV screen, poster or handbill..'

I think there is a lot more to a book than just 'something you pick up and read.'(Richard Seibert - www.artistbooks.com/editions/wiab.html) 

That could be anything!!

I apologise to anyone who may disagree but to me, a scroll is a scroll, a poster is a poster, and a book is a book.  

:)

Week One - Introduction - 4th March

This week I spent a lot of time going over the subject outline and study guide to make sure that I know all about the assignments and their due dates. I am a bit worried about doing this subject by distance as it's the first time I've studied in this mode. This is my second time doing this subject so I want to ensure that I keep up to date.
I've already found that it is hard to keep up with everyone on the forum as some days there may be no posts and then other days there are heaps and going through them can be quite time consuming. However, it has been quite interesting to see the variety in ages, courses being studied and locations that people have talked about in their introductory posts.

I myself posted a message:
Hi just thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Jenna and I am in my final year of study in the Bachelor of Arts (Graphic Design). This is my second time doing this subject and this time I'm doing it by distance as it is my only subject left to do. 
I'm unsure of what I want to do upon completing my degree. Perhaps continue studying but in a different field? For now I am filling my time with casual work in Wagga. 
I was initially drawn to this subject by the children's books topic after briefly touching on this topic in highschool English and having worked in a preschool. This time round however, I feel I will benefit from choosing comics and graphic novels in order to make the subject a little bit different for myself and expand my knowledge in a different area. Hopefully it will interest me as much as children's books did :)

I thought that it would be a good idea to keep track of my forum postings in this learning journal.
I decide to keep my learning journal in the form of a blog as I feel that it is something I feel quite comfortable with doing having taken many subjects that have required the use of an online blog. I also feel that it would be a good way to add videos and images to my thoughts and researches. I'm hoping that I will be able to show my learning within my journal. I feel that learning by distance will make for a different experience and I may learn different to last year without having the in class discussions with the lecturer and other students. I think I will definitely take advantages of the points in the study guide that direct you when your unsure of what to put in the learning journal.

I have also already been thinking about my topic for my essay and have decided that instead of redoing the topic I did last year that I will choose a different one in order to expand my knowledge in a different topic. So this time I will be doing 'What is an artist's Book?'. I have already made many points to discuss within the essay and will begin expanding on those points very soon.

So these are my plans for the semester and hopefully studying by distance will prove to be a worthwhile experience and encourage me to keep organised and and to become an independent learner
:)