Confused? No.
In September 2011, a gathering of artists who make books will be held in Takapuna. We plan to bring together a selection of artist books for display and exhibition, and invite some of our more obsessed New Zealand artist book ‘smiths’ to provide public demonstrations of the vast array of techniques and forms they use in creating their books. Plans are in the very very early stages for this artist project, but expressions of interest would be welcomed, as would the spreading of the word to anyone you know who might be interested, in any way, shape or form.
At this stage it is envisaged that as few boundaries as possible will be placed upon submissions or participation, books, after all can take many forms beyond (and including) the traditional. It is the intention though to provide public access to the ‘artist book’ – a completed unique singular art object in itself, rather than book binding as a craft – although hopefully there will be enough cross fertilisation to make it intriguing for the purist craftspeople as well as non threatening for the rank amateur with a desire to explore.
Those of us enraptured by the form and the process know well that there are some superb artist books being created out there in the creative community, from altered books, to fabric fat books, visual diaries, book sculpture, extraillustration, journals, story books. But there are very limited opportunities to show these pieces of work to each other, let alone other book lovers in our community. We know that the act of making an artist book – in whichever form we choose to explore – is more than just an exercise in technique, it is a personal journey of self expression and self discovery that brings a very special joy. The Takapuna Public Library has some artist books in it’s wonderful Angela Morton Collection, so it is the perfect venue for this gathering, perhaps we can even pass on the obsession while we use this great excuse to focus on an exhibition date.
So spread the word, think about it a bit, and get in touch if you feel so inclined…
