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.