More than one hundred artists, curators, collectors, journalists and academics gathered at Artspace Mackay to attend its Artists’ Book Forum and celebrate the gallery’s first birthday. Despite the unexpectedly high attendance and stretched resources of gallery staff and Director Robert Heather, the ambitious, televised seminar, workshop and exhibition program ran smoothly. The one-day Forum was held in the neighbouring Civic Centre, accompanied by an eclectic display of artists’ books from the gallery’s collection that ranged from Adele Outteridge’s one-off tea bag books to Tate Adam’s fine art limited editions.
The breadth and diversity of visual material together with multiple, historicised perspectives from the fifteen speakers offered an excellent introduction to the hybrid forms of artists books in Australia and their international precedents; the collecting policies of the James Hardie Library, Brisbane, and the National Gallery of Victoria; the annual Artists Book Exhibition, Noosa; and the social, cultural and economic contexts for production.
In the first session Jan Davis provided an essential theoretical context for artistic collaboration. Her emphasis on a peer group dialogue was borne out by Ron McBurnie’s humorous elucidation of his own authorial aliases and multi-narratives in collaborations and Chris Wallace-Crabbe’s description of his deep and evolving friendship with artist Bruno Leti through their production of ten collaborative books.
A light hearted debate ensued in the second session over the pros and cons of the conservator’s glove, with Kate Ravenswood roundly defending her own tactile intimacy with the page and Helen Cole reminding us of the problems that inhibit institutional collecting of contemporary artists’ books.
In the afternoon session Akky van Ogtrop spoke about the factors that impact on the market value of artists’ books. Noreen Graham went on to express concern that artists’ books are still bought ‘via the back door in contemporary art markets as an adjunct to the artist’s "own" work’ and are more often acquired by libraries than art museums. In this environment, they lack identity and often fail to meet collection criteria.
On a more positive note, what the slides and samples shown by all the speakers actually demonstrated is that those same issues of non-conformity which pose problems for collecting institutions and dealers are precisely what attract artists, curators and librarians to the artist’s book form in the first place. Ultimately, purchasing decisions are made by individuals who take informed risks, as shown by the Artspace Mackay collection and Helen Cole’s acquisitions for the James Hardie Library (e.g. an untitled book by Luke Roberts which is nailed shut).
If the Artists’ Book Forum had just consisted of a talk-fest we might all have left a little jaded. More to the point, it was also a feast for the eye. Bruno Leti, Dianne Longley and Ken Orchard’s individual survey exhibitions may not have been new to everyone since they have all travelled elsewhere but displayed together in the main gallery their joint impact was huge. Of all the work on show, Bruno Leti and Dianne Longley’s editioned books most readily conformed to the Forum theme. In her talk, Longley indicated that the book format is particularly applicable to her work since she is not an ‘observational thinker’ and her visual forms are first conceived in words and phrases out of a desire to create personal stories. By comparison Bruno Leti’s ‘love affair’ with making books has drawn strength from a wider range of visual and verbal stimuli, especially the preliminary signs and visual annotations in artists’ sketchbooks and the poetry of John Shaw Neilson and Chris Wallace-Crabbe.
Juxtaposed against two highly prolific and respectful producers of intimate artists’ books, Ken Orchard played the role of postmodern renegade. Although books provide the starting point for his collages, prints and paintings, Orchard reacts violently to other people’s books by dismembering them, re-scaling their images, pulling their pages apart, cutting them up or painting over them. His most recent series employs printed pages as background texture for plein air paintings of the Australian landscape.
In the foyer exhibition space, Sandra Ross spoke about the metaphysics of fusing architectural structure with human form in her concertina books and prints. She was succeeded by Mackay artist Glenn Skein, who went on to entertain his audience with a memorable performance that perfectly illustrated Ravenswood’s earlier description of artists’ book fetishism. Although Skein’s carefully crafted, intimate, boxed works don’t conform to a book format and rarely use text, they do establish visual narratives in a form that relates ritual traditions to private obsessions.
What would a second Artists’ Book Forum look like? Judging from contemporary precedents, there would be no shortage of new local artists’ books to discuss. In the last talk at the 2004 Forum, Dianne Fogwell demonstrated how The Editions & Artists’ Book Studio at the Canberra School of Arts provides a unique academic environment in Australia to assist artists with collaborative experimentation in new printing technologies. Her talk also provided some indication of the economic pragmatism required for survival. Ideally, in any future events we might anticipate some overseas representation by artists and book centres for further discussion about these issues. And, since artists’ books are still rarely associated with public demonstrations of power and prestige, it could also be useful to examine strategies for increasing and educating markets for Australian artists’ books.
What do you think? Imprint welcomes readers’ suggestions and comments.
Sue Forster, Imprint Editor
