Book Art in DUMBO – 5 + 5: a dialogue
Brooklyn has a rich community of artists and galleries and this is especially true for artists who work in the realm of the book. By that I mean artists who choose the book form to be their canvas to express ideas or visions. Book art – or books made by artists – has a long tradition and today we are seeing a vast array of examples ranging from multiples (open editions), limited editions to unique works.
On view until March 27th, there is an exhibition of artists’ books at the 5 + 5 Gallery in DUMBO offering an intriguing array of unique works in the book form. The exhibition is entitled 8 Artists: 8 Books and includes the work of Todd Bartel, Doug Beube, Donna Maria deCreeft, Raphael Fodde, Marty Greenbaum, Caroline Hill, Bo Joseph and Robin Ross, who is also the curator of the exhibition. Each artist shows two works of art – one in a book form and one wall piece – which are dynamically juxtaposed. The works in the exhibition offer magical images that entice the viewer to look into private worlds touched by literature and travel and other forces.
We would like to start a dialogue about these works and we invite these artists to comment about their works in this exhibition and perhaps to answer the following questions in comments to this blog:
How do the works – books and wall pieces – communicate a message together?
Why was the book form selected as a vehicle as a communication tool?
raphael Fodde:
March 13th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
a correction to the web page. the gallery’s name is 5+5 gallery. it stands for hands on gallery.
thank you.
raphael Fodde:
March 13th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Drawing on the heritage of the luxury publications of the late 19th century, the livre d’artistes, started to regain popularity in the sixties and seventies,and was considered an exquisite object of great intimacy, like the one of precious illuminated medieval Book of Hours, or alternatively, as an object (Duchamp use to call his books:”An object d’affection”). My books are more diaristic or confessional, anchored in a specific time frame,like an illustrated diary, or some that are a truly collaborative and refer to a reality free of time and space; like the 3 books with Samuel Beckett’s poetry. I always consider harmony and balance sometimes despite its historical classic restrains.
Most of my books have some text as I believe words are the gems that should comment on the art itself. All this creates an intimate and private artifact distilled through memory and revealed through a different system of knowledge.
Why artists make books, is a legitimate question , but at the same time poses a variety of problems and other questions that are intimately connected to the mood, inspiration and bizarre connection of our every day life.Sometimes it becomes that reality that can be touched in a book form because is totally mine and I can relate to it rather than a wall piece that can be so far abstract and in time less available. more later.
Robin Ross:
March 13th, 2008 at 5:37 pm
thanks raphael for your commenting on the personal nature of your books, both as word holders and image holders. inspiration from great writers and thinkers is always intriguing, but i’m also interested in the poems you have personally written yourself in some of your books to use the text in your books.
and aside from this point, the correct link to my book work is:
http://robinross.NeoImages.net.
or http://www.robinross.com
Todd Bartel:
March 13th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
The two pieces “Garden Study—Surrender to Vastness,” and, “Garden Study—Tent” are two individual projects from separate bodies of work that share a similar title as well as related interests and themes. “Surrender” is a work from my “Synterial” series—a series of shaped frame pieces I began in 2002—that explore enhanced meaning within the context of highly individualized frames, and which, always take a particular text as a beginning point. I call them Synterials because I have to completely synthesize each and every aspect of the piece before execution, which requires a kind of director’s or architect’s conception and coordination. “Tent” is from a series I have been working on since 1995 in which I examine the history of land, the history of landscape depiction, and the history of our specie’s various attitudes for how to behave within these realms. All of the drawings from that series use book pages from Ovid’s Metamorphosis as a ground. Both bodies of work explore the relationship between collage aesthetics and the definition of landscape—which is also true for all my work in general. The distinction between both bodies of work has to do with the ways in which a particular series looks to landscape history. The Synterial series for example, is not limited to any particular realm of land depiction, but the Ovid series, more often than not, appropriates its imagery from landscape history in as much as I attempt to mimic, augment, copy or edit well-known land painters. “Tent” for example, takes its cue from a Bosch painting. The distinguishing focus for the Synterial series is upon the motivating forces for why we inhabit space in the ways in which we inhabit them—I am interested in psychology and morality as the attitudes that govern these fields shifts from century to century, from decade to decade. The Ovid series is more about chronicling the history of how the present conditions evolved. If these works communicate a message together, I would suggest they both point toward a nomadic disposition: self-imposed in one (Tent), versus necessary wandering in the other (Surrender).
Regarding why I select books as my vehicle for communication and expression, for as long as I have been making personally resonant work (1983), books have informed my practice. Either by virtue of appropriating the pages of volumes—selecting out imagery and/or text—or by creating work that builds off, or continue with the ideas presented in books, books supply me with most of my imagery. As a dedicated collage-based artist, I am indebted to printed matter for just about all I make. From the past to the present—from incunabula to e-book—the book has been a tool for the enlightened as much as it is also been a vehicle for moving toward enlightenment. When authors quote, credit and footnote each other, they wittingly or unwittingly connect back to the first book ever written. It is interesting to me that to move forward, we often have to connect with our rich past—and every time we reference something we read, we connect back through this history in some way. My work is generally about the importance of transformation, and so any tool or vehicle that provokes, or hints at, or points toward transformation, becomes absorbed by my expanding studio interests. As a collage-based artist, I think the act of pasting is not unlike that of the footnote, and I want all my work to have the potential to reference the past as it examines the present. Books are perfect for this activity. For me, when I choose a text, it is not often left to chance. An exception is however, that I have been working on the pages of Ovid’s Metamorphosis since 1989—the year I made my first environmentally conscience work—and this is the only body of work since 1989 that I intentionally avoid looking to the text to glean inspiration. I draw and paint over the text; I “overcite,” and for me this tactic allows for a reference to themes of transformation without getting bogged down by the overt conceptual practices that much of my work involves. The drawing process for the Ovid series needs to be immediate, and so I would rather overcite, then get slowed by my interests in scholarship. Thus, I sought a text, as old as possible that some how conjures images of marvelous potential. For “Surrender,” I unexpectedly came upon some quotes that harkened back to the governing principles in my work and simply felt compelled to develop a Synterial around the quotes it contains.
Donna Maria deCreeft:
March 14th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
You touched on something, Raphael, that I’ve often thought. Art in book form is accessible to people in ways that art on the wall, in the museum, etc. isn’t. I’ve noticed that people who don’t respond to abstraction in a painting or a drawing can appreciate it in book form. Perhaps their familiarity with the book as an object makes them feel less anxious about what they do and don’t know about “art”, and allows them to relate to the visual content in a more primal, open way.
Both my book and my drawing have a connection to Chaos theory. It’s a scietific theory which appeals to me because it supports the observation that there are no straight lines in nature, and isn’t about Logic. It approaches the underlying order, or structure in nature from an intuitive, holistic perspective, so it’s kind of the visual art of science.
My book deals with two of the ideas encompassed in Chaos theory. One has to do with expanding, not by growing bigger but by creating more surface area within a finite amount of space. The other idea is about randomness: giving the viewer options for creating different compositions depending on how the pages are unfolded and arranged.
In the drawing, the unconscious placement of marks evokes a landscape by accident and not design, which also speaks to the idea of randomness in Chaos theory.
Robin Ross:
March 14th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Good to see all your connective theories DM! Here’s a small encapsulation of the whole show…..
My original focus in curating “8 Artist 8 Books” was to find painters who paint in or on books already in existence as actual “book” objects – as enhancing what already exists. I think of painting as a form of history, and thus this embellishment places history upon history. Most of the artists included in this show use painterly methods in their work even if the work fits into categories of sculpture or concept art. Using serendipity and precision in cutting, folding and molding, manipulating, painting, printing, and collaging, the artists all retain a painterly quality in their one of a kind books. Using literal text combined with traditional art making techniques allows for both playfulness and serious endeavor. These fields of color, words, printed and painted matter span through space between ledge and wall in the gallery. It’s really a greater span than I had at first envisioned, an exspanding span. and expanding again here in blogland.
As for my own personal work, I provide this statement I recently wrote: I draw and paint in various old books. All the books are unique, and usually graffitied, foxed, water damaged, or otherwise unwanted. This combines my love of the literary and visual arts. Often the old paper, the smell, the touch and the literariness of description and knowledge inspire what I paint, and also what I paint may evoke writing from me. I am working with the poetry of journeying through an unknown land with visions of realistic desert and illusionary fountains.
And thus each book is given new life. It is like a song to me, I read or merely imagine the page’s content – the intent of the original author, and or the publisher’s interpretation. I can add some writing here, some painting there. A book can contain many many paintings, it is like a giant installation of paintings and words, a compilation of individual yet cohesive pages. Each original page is inclusive to what I am painting. It folds, it opens, it makes crisp or crinkly noises unlike wall paintings, it contains a history below the surface of the new story I put upon it. Some day perhaps another creative person will chronicle more upon what I have put upon.. The changing nature of the paper and print underneath the actual oil paint is part of the character of each book. The slow and quiet ephemeral quality of these books adds to their mystery and depth.
And like all my work, whether in book form or painting figures on canvas, I allow intuitive vision, the immediacy of weather and light, and graced momentum to guide me. I always aspire to have the resulting glow transform each painted passage into dreamtime.
Robin Ross:
March 15th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
http://robinross.NeoImages.net
Marty Greenbaum:
March 16th, 2008 at 9:21 pm
“A rose is a rose is a rose”and a book is a book is a book. When is a book an artist’s book? The origin of the word ‘book’ derives from the beech tree…. buche which for me is rooted in the tree of life. The early bookmakers, ancient Germanic tribes, used the wood of the beech tree and made tablets for writing…. papyrus to paper, scroll to binding.
The generic term ‘artists’ books’ has had many interpre-tations and a layered history. The expression originally derived from the French ‘livres des artisites’, which were a collaboration by a community of artists and craftsmen and produced in limited luxury editions. More recently, artists books have existed both in inexpensive, small editions as well as in unique, one-of-a-kind artworks.
Book art is not a single form, it has many forms taking into its substance endless possibilities and variations. It is not a single context, it is many contexts finding the right artist.
Since the early 1960′s I have been making unique books by transforming actual books into painterly and sculptural works. The format involves space/time sequences by means of painting, tearing, cutting, and shaping. Turning the pages, one can see into the book as through layers of time….. forward in anticipation and backward in retrospec-tion. The images become multi-directed, ricocheting back and forth. This concept is at the heart of ‘Long Distance’ a work in the 8 Artists 8 Books show currently on view at the 5+5 Gallery,
Carol Radsprecher:
March 18th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Hi. I saw the show on the opening night and thought it a very good one. Much of the work remains in my memory. I liked the way it was installed and the selection of work. Nothing else to add, but I just wanted to put in my few words.
Leah Shook:
March 21st, 2008 at 4:08 pm
Though all pieces included the essential element, a book, the style of the focus varied. I was incredibly intrigued by the intentions of the artists. Some artists choose more traditional styles of a book, like Caroline Hill, where others stepped outside the norm and created their own definition. To the artists: what drove your creation of the “book” and how did you decide which style you would create?
Caroline Hill:
March 21st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
Hey Leah. Thanks for your question. I went with a more traditional book because of my graphic design background. I tend to create work that is very organized and as accessible as possible to the viewer. The accordion style appealed to me because it gives the book potential to be viewed all at once.
Donna Maria deCreeft:
March 24th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Thanks Leah, for your interesting and thoughtful
observation. My approach, or “book-form” I guess you
could say, was inspired by Susan Share. Some years
ago I heard her speak about her perfomance books at
the Center for Book Arts. She showed a video in which
she demonstrated the sculptural and interactive
potential of accordion books. I was particularly
excited by the way she expanded the books into space.
In my book accordion folds are contained within a
folio. Opening it and unfolding the pages gives the
reader/viewer the opportunity to create and change the
composition by rearranging the folds.
Donna Maria deCreeft:
March 25th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I just wanted to offer further clarification–
In my statement I referred to Chaos Theory which relates to the idea of containment and expansion. However, the idea of containment also comes from ritual. A ritual space needs to be well defined in order to give the unconscious
safe passage. The psyche needs to know where it can
take off and land, so to speak. So the folio is the delineated boundary and within that the accordion folds and the non-objective and symbolic imagery (rather than words since I’m a visual artist) open up to limitless imaginative possibilities.
Mary Jennings:
March 25th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
I also went to the show on opening night. It is one of a few art shows that I have been to in New York, but I must say it was one that left an impression. All of the works were unbelievable. I wished so much that I could go through each book and hear the detailed description of each piece from the artist. Such amazing talent in that one small room!
caroline hill:
March 26th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
wow, mary. thanks!
Jackson Hill:
March 26th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
I was also able to see the show at the 5÷5 gallery. It sure would help to follow this discussion if we could see the art online. Any chance of that?
Robin Roppo:
March 27th, 2008 at 7:18 pm
I attended the Book Art show opening night at 5+5. Since moving to New York, I’ve only been to a few exhibits in Brooklyn and Hoboken. I absolutely loved the exhibit! There was a great crowd and a nice buzz throughout the evening. It was great to see everyone’s interpretation and pairing of pieces…especially how some artists chose to create literal translations using books as their medium and other artist created their books. I also liked that the artists chosen each used different methods, color palettes, and artistic styling. I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives as each piece was very unique. I was fortunate to come back on a Saturday a couple of weeks after the opening and receive a personal walk-through of Caroline Hill’s work. I loved her technique of surveying people to extract imagery and then translating the descriptive words into a single frame. The book was a unique amalgamation and collage of photos from a single line in a poem. While the poet and author have so much depth, the construction of Caroline’s pieces were broken apart line by line, rather than interpreting the poem in its entirety, and I am a huge fan of the creativity. I look forward to the next 5+5 show!
Linda Marshall Hill:
March 29th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I was also there for the opening of the 5+5 book arts show. Since I am a librarian this show especially appeals to me. It is interesting to get a feel for the endless possibilities that are out there for this art form. I particularly enjoy it when a project incorporates the intersection of art and literature – the best of both worlds! Over the years I have seen some really cool book arts shows in public libraries. There is one at the new Main Library in Minneapolis now called Altered Books. I also appreciated the mix of artists in the 5+5 show.
Clarence "Scandelle" Johnson:
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:23 am
Really enjoyed the diversity and creative engery of this collection! My favorite is Caroline Hill — her control in the detailing and color of her work is magnificent and enthralling! And the interpretation was both uplifitng and very entertaining.
Love her!
Deirdre:
April 21st, 2008 at 10:18 am
Folks, I want to thank everyone for commenting! This dialogue reflects the excitement and issues surrounding the books in the 5+5 gallery exhibition and the direction that artists’ books are moving in. This has been a very informative discourse and I hope we can continue an online conversation about the future of artists’ books and books in general! Best, Deirdre