tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512222432311537777.post1394212159760314398..comments2023-03-16T10:15:58.642-05:00Comments on Special & Rare On A Stick: Artist's Books (or Artists' Books)Tim Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03553610681345423556noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8512222432311537777.post-79570670483827682482008-05-21T06:45:00.000-05:002008-05-21T06:45:00.000-05:00It sounds like you've had an interesting discussio...It sounds like you've had an interesting discussion on the topic. Artists' books <I>practice</I> is the subject of my PhD at the moment, and I, too, am asking the question 'How Do You Use Artists' Books?'. I think there's a difference though. I'm seeking to produce a view of the books through artists' practice. <I>How do artists use artists' books to facilitate their practice?</I> I hope that this will end up backing up my hunch that it opens up all kinds of cognitive/cultural/practical pathways towards legitimacy, roles, diffusion, etc. Whilst this probably has some appeal in an art-pedagogy way, and also as a possible alternative/additional way to schematize artists' books by (something like) 'practice-effects' rather than appearance or historical milieu, your discussion, if I read it correctly, seems more to do with how artists' books might serve a general pedagogy. Not 'how do books help us teach artists how to pursue their ideas?', but a more general 'what can we teach using artists' books?'<BR/><BR/>I'm biased, of course, but I get more excited by the idea that book arts can work as a sort of conceptual trainer. They allow artists to produce arrays of material, held critically together by the book form. What this means is that the person making the book gets to 'encircle a set'. The meaning of a book can depend on all the poetics or material the artist brings in or alludes to. This might be intimidating in other media, where a book offers certain boundaries- and certain capabilities. The artist can experiment with publishing, multiples, multiple viewpoints, multi authors, etc. I'm not sure how one would organise an exhibition of 'practice-effects' like these (an unwieldy term, anything better?), but it's something I'm working towards here in the UK.<BR/><BR/>Good luck with your event.<BR/><BR/>Andrew EasonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com