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Examples of artists' books
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As we move toward the digital delivery of collections and services, the book is losing ground as the focus of libraries and librarianship. While the future of the book as a container for delivering "content" may be in question, the appreciation of the book as an object, the art and craft of bookmaking, endures. Throughout history books have been prized for qualities that transcend their information content. (Think of the early illuminated manuscripts and the richly illustrated works of William Blake.) The current book arts movement had roots in the early twentieth century's craftsmanship movement and blossomed in the 1960's with the resurgence of interest in handcrafted objects. Contemporary creators of artists' books are producing imaginative works that challenge our concept of a book.
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'Jacob's Ladder'
by Cara Kendric
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What is an artists' book? The definition is quite broad. Artists' books can range from totally handmade one of a kind objects to more traditional looking commercially published works. What they have in common is the emphasis on the book as a work of art and a celebration of the craftsmanship involved in the various aspects of bookmaking -- papermaking, printing, illustration and binding. While text is not necessarily present in all artists' books and many are constructed with materials not traditionally associated with bookmaking, they all share a quality of "bookness"1.
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Cara Kendric with an artist's book she created.
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One Scott Library staff member, Catalog Librarian Cara Kendric, is a creator and collector of artists' books. Examples of her work illustrate this article. Cara began making artists' books while pursuing a BA in Printmaking from Chatham College in Pittsburgh. She has continued her education in the book arts by taking classes at Philadelphia's University of the Arts and attending workshops on papermaking, printing and photography offered by arts centers throughout the country . Cara's work has been exhibited in shows of artists' books in Pittsburgh and Kingston, MA.
Footnote
1. The Whatness of Bookness http://cbbag.ca/bookness.html
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