Creative Book Design- ‘Production’ Research Points:
Research task 1:
Book Fairs The list below is showing a range of art book fairs, both independent publishers and independent designers and artists. Research the book fairs online and explore the wide range of books by independent publishers, to gain a better understanding of the variety of books and publishing possibilities. You might want to visit one of the fairs in the future and explore the books.
Offprint London: http://offprintlondon.com/
Art book Fair London: http://www.whitechapelgallery.org/events/london-art-book-fair/
Small Publishers Fair: http://smallpublishersfair.co.uk/
International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair : http://www.leedsartbookfair.com/
Dublin Art Book Fair: http://www.templebargallery.com/gallery/exhibition/dublin-art-book-fair-2 016
BABE Bristol Artists’ Book Event: http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/projects/babe.html
Some of the links provided didn’t work or after a google search weren’t clear if they had websites/online information. The best 3 were ‘Offprint London’ ‘Art book Fair London’ and ‘Small Publishers Fair’ which were full of interesting publishers/books/artists which took me down various rabbit holes full of great information.
Offprint London:
After looking through Offprint’s website, Instagram and some of the listed publishing houses I came across multiple interesting artists. Taisuke Koyama and Bastien Cosson were 2 of my favourites. I compiled some of their work together in mood boards to refer to for future tasks/personal work.
“Japanese photographer Taisuke Koyama is known for pushing the boundaries of photography and expanding the realm of digital imagery. Originally trained in biology and environmental science, Koyama melds his scientific background into his artistic practice by incorporating data-input devices, such as handheld scanners and digital microscopes. Koyama also uses photography to recontextualize the urban environment”- Artsy
Koyama’s work is so interesting. The close up imagery and use of digital manipulation creates emotive abstractions. I particularly like his more collage style work such as the piece in the top left hand corner of the mood board. The use of scale and composition here creates a dynamic final image.
Koyama’s work has inspired new ideas that I can test in exercise 4 and potentially the final assignment. I really love his combination of physical and digital techniques to create textures.
There is not a lot of information about Bastien Cosson. Even his own website does not use words. The website itself is just a slideshow of images, which you have to click through manually. There is no ‘backwards’ button either. I really love his illusive approach, letting his art speak for itself.
Art book Fair London:
The London art book fair is definitely on the list of an event to attend. When looking at their list of exhibitors at the fair I came across Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck at Ambeck Design. The approach to her books is brilliant and ties in with a discussion I had with my tutor about how form can represent meaning.
Ambeck’s ‘Home use only’- (Now you see now you don’t) published in July 2020 is brilliant. The cover itself is blank, to me it represents the blank feeling in the first Corona Virus lock down, and the sense of loneliness. The inner is filled with abstract shapes, representing the virus and in order to see the full movement of these shapes the book must be flicked through, showing a gain in size/change in composition of the elements.
This shows, literally the movement of the virus and change in emotions during the pandemic through the physical form of the book and how it is used. This is something to keep in mind when planning for my final assignment.
Small Publishers Fair:
The Small Publishers Fair includes many authors, poets, designers and photographers. Their ‘Exhibition Archive’ lists many interesting collaborators, my personal favourite being Ian Sinclair. Iain Sinclair is an author and filmmaker based in London who focuses on psychogeography. I was drawn to Sinclair’s ‘Red Eye’ cover initially and decided to do some further research.
“Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes, and follows a loosely defined urban practice known as the dérive.”
This concept and the theory of dérive are very interesting. They relate in a way to the journey of art and design when letting a concept or idea guide you forwards without an exact plan of what to create.
They also delve deeper into the dérive theory and discuss synchronicities throughout their lives and elements they have noticed in others/when writing. They both seem very interested in symbolism and the subconscious associations people experience with different objects/places. This was very inspiring and again links to developing meaning through visuals and form.
The book cover of ‘The Last London’ is great. I love the interwoven map within the sans serif title. The colours of white, gold and black work well and appear modern, but also nostalgic at the same time, something I believe that Sinclair would want to portray.
I went onto looking at some of Sinclair’s film/documentary work and came across a talk he had done with Alan Moore at the Whitechapel gallery.
They discuss Sinclair’s book ‘The Last London’, Iain's influence on Alan Moore's ‘From Hell’. I am only familiar with Alan Moore’s ‘The Watchmen’ and older comic book work but am now interested to read more from them both.
International Contemporary Artists’ Book Fair:
The landing page from the link provided didn’t work, but after exploring ‘The Tetley’ website I was drawn to an image of many interesting looking book on a bookshelf/being hung on a wall. This was curated by Nick Thurston and the Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow in Leeds and was called ‘The house that heals’.
Thurston describes why he chose the name ‘The house that heals’ saying that it was from a translation of an engraving found at a Pharaoh’s tomb during an archeological dig at an Egyptian burial site. ‘The house’ here is said to refer to the Pharaoh’s personal library.
The exhibition consisted of 3 rooms, one where the main focus was reading and speaking about the works there. Thurston mentions in the brief interview how public libraries and art galleries aren’t as popular and are more at risk of becoming even less popular/closing down, this exhibition was to display the need for these spaces and the need for sharing work.
The display of books itself interested me as there was a continuous shelf travelling around the walls of each of the rooms where books were displayed. This is again showing concept being pushed forwards not only through the physical books but through the presentation of the works themselves. Perhaps the presentation for my final assignment could add to the narrative of the book?
