Book Art Object

by David Jury (Editor), Peter Koch (Preface)

Book Art Object may be the most ambitious and diverse survey of artist's books and the book arts published to date. Across its 400-plus pages of sumptuous color reproductions, it tracks the present state of the art throughout every continent (including Antarctica!) and through every variant of the book arts, from one-off publications to letterpress to artist/poet collaborations to artist's books. Stalwarts of the artist's book circuit such as Brad Freeman and Granary Books are represented here, as well as newer artist's book publishers such as Dobbin Mill, Otis Laboratory Press and Red Trillum Press. Also well represented are small literary presses such as Chax Press, Arion Press, Indulgence Press and Nikodim Publishing. A visual record of the proceedings and exhibitors attending the first biennial Codex International Book Fair and Symposium, Book Art Object collects work by many of the world's most esteemed printers, book artists and artisans into a single satisfying volume.

Genres: Art

448 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2010

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

As reading experiences go, this was quite meta. The book is largely comprised of extensive photographs of fine press and artist's books, all of which were exhibited/for sale at the San Francisco Codex Book Fair in 2007. These photographs (which really don't do much apart from make you wish you could be holding the books they depict rather than the large and unwieldy one that houses them) are book-ended by transcripts of speeches given during the conference and commentary by artists presenting their work at the conference. Some of these speeches are outright nuts, others do a nice job of summarizing and articulating the particular space that book arts occupies in the contemporary publishing landscape, as well as what that space might look like in our digital future. There wasn't much groundbreaking thought, but the volume serves the important purpose of documenting/archiving the book fair itself. In the end, I only wish this book was physically easier to handle.

[NoBeatenPath · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful book that explores the artists book as both book and art object. Filled with illustrations of some of the most beautiful books being created by artists today, along with papers that were delivered at the Codex conference, and a very helpful section at the back that lists contact details for artists, dealers, courses and suppliers. A fantastic resource as well as an inspiration.