Artist’s Books | What are They?

Recently, for my final project in Fine Art at college, we had to create an artist’s book. When I first heard that we had to do this, I had very little clue as to what an artist’s book really is. Despite me googling ‘What Is an Artists Book’ relentlessly, I really struggled to find really helpful information about what exactly it was, and what I had to do for it.

Luckily, my teacher put together a useful PowerPoint, and she talked it through with all of us, and now…. 6 weeks later, I (along with my classmates) have made an artists book.

So that is why for this blog post, we are going to discuss:

• What is an artist’s book?
• What is the origin of the artist’s book?
• What makes an artist’s book?
• A representative medium?
• Unusual materials
• Artist’s books today
• What I Had to do for my Artist’s Book

(You can click on any of the above links to skip right to that section of interest)

So let’s kick things off with:

What is an Artist’s Book?

Simply put, artists’ books are works of art that take the shape of a book (or something that looks like a book). An artist’s book may be a one-of-a-kind work, but it may also be part of a limited edition. It might be letterpress printed using handset metal type or photopolymer plates, but it might also be offset printed, mimeographed, photocopied, handwritten, or self-published online. It might include strange stuff such as soap, food, or LEGOS.

Artists’ books have taken a variety of formats, including the classic Codex as well as less usual formats such as scrolls, fold-outs, concertinas, and loose pieces in a box. Although artists have long been involved in printing and book manufacturing, the artist’s book is predominantly a late-twentieth-century form. Earlier movements such as Dada, Constructivism, Futurism, and Fluxus also produced book formats.

Artists’ books are books or book-like things over which an artist has had a significant amount of control, and where the book is meant to be a work of art in and of itself.

For a number of reasons, artists’ books are created. In most cases, an artist book is interactive, portable, moveable, and readily shared. Some artists’ books defy the traditional book format by transforming them into sculptural sculptures. Artists’ books can be made to make art more accessible to individuals who aren’t able to visit galleries or museums. [2] Found things, as well as other materials, can be used to create artists’ books. [3] Ulises Carrión, a Mexican artist, saw artists’ books as self-contained forms that are not limited to words, as a regular book is.

What is the Origin of The Artist’s Book?

While artists have long been involved in the creation of books and manuscripts, many consider William Blake, the Romantic poet, painter, and printer, to be the first significant character of the artist’s book. Blake’s illuminated poetic anthology Songs of Innocence and Experience, published in 1794, was composed, coloured, engraved, and printed entirely by his hand. His ambition for complete integration of text and pictures, as well as creative liberty, made him a revolutionary of his day, inspiring generations of book artists to follow in his footsteps.

What Makes an Artist’s Book?

Artist’s books are not to be confused with illustrated books, which are created as one-of-a-kind art items or published in limited editions by small presses. “The illustrator’s intention is to clarify the text, while the artist’s intention is to create images that extend and/or enhance the text,” writes art historian Riva Castleman.

In reality, an artist’s book may not include any text at all, as in Tauba Auerbach’s rainbow books, which are abstract sculptures containing condensed perceptions of colour. The artist’s book is intended to be experienced rather than read, and as a result, it frequently foregoes the typical apparatus of text, picture, sequence, introductions, and contents.

A Representative Medium?

The book as an art object provides unprecedented accessibility, allowing various individuals to examine the artwork at various times and in different locations. The greater the number of copies created, the more widely the work may be spread. The avant-garde painters of the early 1900s were drawn to the opportunity to reach enormous audiences. With World War I looming, printed matter provided a means of conveying ideas outside of commercial or institutional interests, as well as a chance to engage with a wider audience than the normal art crowd.

Because these books are small in scale, they are inexpensive to create, duplicate, and disseminate, making them effective social and political instruments. Movements like Italian and Russian Futurism, Dada, and surrealism seized on their radical character, resulting in novels like Filippo Marinetti’s Zang Tumb Tumb and Max Ernst’s Une Semaine de Bonté. The rebellious aspect of the artist’s book was reinvigorated once again during the 1960s and 1970s activism, with artists like Lawrence Weiner and Sol LeWitt utilising their bookworks as “alternative spaces” to showcase their art.

Unusual Materials

Book artists are continuously questioning the traditional book’s concept, content, and structure. They’ve split them apart, reassembled them, included bizarre things, and experimented with a variety of unusual materials.

Louise Bourgeois, for example, published Ode à l’Oubli, a fabric artist’s book constructed from discarded garments and monogrammed hand towels from her wedding, in 2004.

Dieter Roth, who was mentioned before, was also noted for using perishable foods like meat and cheese in his paintings.

Then there are artists like Guy Laramée, who go beyond the book form entirely, transforming old encyclopaedias and dictionaries into breathtaking 3D landscapes.

Artist’s Books Today

Despite, or perhaps because of, the digital revolution, the field of artist’s books is booming. The book form continues to change, with prominent modern artists like Lawrence Weiner and Richard Tuttle supporting the medium and a slew of new artists following suit. While organisations such as Printed Matter work to promote and appreciate the format, artist’s book fairs are springing up all over the world to accommodate the rising demand for the medium among collectors, artists, and book enthusiasts. Perhaps it is the tactile nature of these artefacts that continues to pique our curiosity in an increasingly virtual world.

What I Had to do for my Artist’s Book

We chose the cotton industry as the topic for our college artists book, and we worked in groups of three on different portions of the book. My group proposed developing a collection of works based on the slave trade and its impact on the cotton industry, as well as the impact of the American Civil War on the Lancashire cotton industry.  

As a result, we chose to each produce three pictures, each conveying a message and telling a narrative about cotton and its impact on actual people. We organised all these images into our book, along with the rest of the classes works on their unique themes. This book overall, tell the story of the cotton industry, it’s beginnings, to its crippling effects of people, and what lead to the cotton famine.

Recommend0 recommendationsPublished in Resources