The meaning behind the Artist’s books
“An art book is a museum without walls.” —André Malraux
Books are one of the older forms of sharing information, ideas, adventures and understandings of the world. The body of books and the printing techniques that developed around the development of book publishing have been known since ancient times to mankind and have never stopped developing through the ages. The examples are hundreds of thousands of different models, variants, formats, principles and contents. The book has the glory of something not only useful, but also of high artistic and cultural value. While book publishing generally remains in the craft realm, there are still examples, particularly in the art world, that are of uncompromising aesthetic quality or are made in very small numbers, hand-made, and specially commissioned for or by the artist.
April 2 is the International Children’s Book Day. Therefore, it is not by chance that we have chosen this exact date for the start of the new season of 5new for 2023. This year we will talk much more about alternative art forms, about artists’ books and about art catalogs as a means of preserving artistic memory. To this we will also add video art as well as some artistic commentary around new technologies and art objects as an alternative to 2D works. In other words, our goal for 2023 is to shift from the flat image world to a more 3D and “motion” medium in contemporary art.
We all start our lives as children and our first encounter with the world of books is children’s books and the amazing stories that they unveil. As an allegory of this, if we consider that it might be a good idea for the young collector to first acquire quality examples from the art world with an “artist’s book” as an art object, it helps them a lot during their growth and understanding of the art pieces. And in addition to this to upgrade with catalog editions that tell the story of the artist but in a more ordered and even sometimes encyclopedic, scientific in some cases, way.
THE ARTIST’S BOOK
An artist’s book is a term used for a work of art in which the author (artist) sometimes creates not only the content and illustrations, but also all other elements of the book. The artist’s book, as an object, can be made by the author-artist entirely by hand in one copy (unique) or produced in a limited edition (up to 150-200 copies) using the techniques of the author’s printed graphics, printer, digital printing and other techniques for a small print run.
Here are some historical facts regarding the artist’s books. Livre d’artiste (the term in French) is a French movement in art that arose in the early 20th century, mainly thanks to the efforts of Ambroise Vollard but also most writers on the subject cite the English visionary artist and poet William Blake (1757–1827) as the earliest direct antecedent.
The famous gallery owner Ambroise Vollard, Marchand, and a publisher, using the book format in conjunction with the graphic works of famous artists, created essentially a new genre that became one of the precursors of the phenomenon of the artist’s book. Vollard conceives and brings to life a number of high-art publications. He attracts to this work many famous artists who are not familiar with the canons of book illustration. The project involves great masters such as: Bonnard, Arp, Miró, Chagall, who illustrate poems by no less famous French authors Mallarmé, Verlaine, Balzac. (referenced from here)
With the development of the Avant-Garde in the beginning of the 20th century, along with the editions that preserve the traditional form of the book, the concept of the Artist’s Book also includes books-objects, books-performances, books of land-art, ready-made, mail-art, media art etc.
In English, the term is also found as Artists’ books (or book arts or book objects). But regardless of linguistic usage, at its core this art form consists of works that use the book shape and accordingly retain their high artistic value as any other work, and follow the same standards of inventory and evaluation as works of art.
This means that a small edition collector’s book (or even a one-of-a-kind), like paintings at Christie’s auctions, can command a very high price. Therefore, it is worthwhile for collectors not to neglect this format (even in some cases extremely convenient and compact) in art and to consider it also as a future investment. Because unlike, for example, some formats of New Media and Digital Arts, the artist’s book is easy to collect and manage, especially for non-professionals.
5new Blog&Podcast – Artists talk with Rosen Markovski – for the image and the material. Rosen is presenting in this part his art novels – artist’s books on which he is working during the years of his professional career.
*You can purchase this art piece directly via our communication channels in Messenger and WhatsApp.
The artist’s book should always be seen as a work of art and, accordingly, as part of the art collection and historical art heritage.
In the months after June, we will complement this vision with the concept of catalogs, which are often an addition to the curatorial life of the works. Unlike the artist’s book, the catalog (although sometimes created entirely by the artist himself) does not have the value of a work of art, but rather of a book publication and remains in the field of book publishing and mass printing. This difference is important and essential. Especially if a purchase is desired, since in one case – with the artist’s book, there may (or should) even be an accompanying certificate for authenticity of the work.
In practice, there is no self-respecting art institution that does not strive to fill this niche in its repertoire. Examples of artists’ books are at MoMa (see their collection here), V&A Museum – London (see their collection here), Tate Gallery, etc.
But the format is not just developing and upgrading, but gaining more and more new admirers in the art world through the so-called Art Book Fairs – organized as early as the 60s of the 20th century by the non-profit organization Printed Matters in New York. These are events that are essentially a hybrid between a commercial book fair (like the one in Frankfurt) and an art exhibition.
THE ART BOOKS FAIRS
An art book fair is a type of curated art fair or exhibition for the purpose of exhibiting, selling, and networking among artists, art book creators, illustrators, writers, specialty printers, independent publishers, and their audiences. The parameters for inclusion vary from fair to fair: some include only publications that are considered art objects in themselves, limited editions of art books, works by artists or books specifically devoted to the subject of art; others are broader to include graphic novels, cultural magazines, creative writing, poetry, and other artistic projects. Like other art fairs, the Art Book Fair includes not only works for sale, but also artist installations, projects, events, workshops, talks, panel discussions or book launches. (referenced from here)
Here are only few examples from our practice
STEFAN BOZHKOV, Lithographs of songs by Robert Burns, 3 x 30 x 15, Limited bibliophile edition, Plein air “Sound and Color”
Who is Stefan Bozhkov and more artworks by him you can see here or you can see the artist’s story in our YouTube Channel here
*You can purchase this art piece directly via our communication channels in Messenger and WhatsApp.
DESISLAVA UNGER, Wooden books
Who is Desislava Unger and more artworks by her you can see here.
J.PANK, Pank – Bang! The Abominations of 007 (joint project with Kalin Terziyski)
Who is J.PANK and more from his work you can see here.
SEE OUR ARTIST’S BOOK PROPOSALS FOR DIRECT PURCHASE – April / June ’23
In this article, we have prepared for you several examples of books by artists from our scene, as well as offer you two special editions of Iliyana Kancheva from recent years.
Project Interviews from Miami: a dictionary by Iliyana Kancheva, 2019, artist’s book, video art & audio documentary
About this art work
In terms of its artistic presentation, “Interviews from Miami: a dictionary” consists of three elements.
The first element is the audio recording of the interviews. The audio is played on a smartphone, with English subtitles running on its display. The full volume of collected conversations is 90 minutes long. Conversations were downloaded using software specially developed by the author, based on the Open Frameworks open source environment. The key words for each interview were also extracted through this software.
The extracted text is formed in a dictionary – a book body consisting of 320 pages, hard covers, with a size of 18:23 cm. The dictionary can be read, viewed, leafed through, like any other printed object. The textual content in it is presented in three languages and the translation from one language to the other is done through the mechanical translation platform of Google Translate. The interviewee’s language is the guide for each of the four interviews, and translation via the Google Translate page is for the other two languages. The layout also includes color and black and white illustrations.
In addition to them, the third element was brought in – a small 10.1” video screen, on which Iliyana shows her filmed views of Miami, which recreate the atmosphere of the place. The sound from them is authentic, expressed in side noises and wind, complementing the picture of the context itself.
More detailed curatorial text by Petya Chalakova about the story behind this art piece you can find here (available only in BG).
The installation “Interviews from Miami: a dictionary” was presented at “EX 5” – five years of electronic and experimental art, February/March, 2019, Cultural Center Galileo, Madrid and at 0GMS – cabinet at SGHH, with curator Daniela Radeva, March/April 2019, in October it will also be available for visitors to DA Fest ’19, at the National Academy of Arts.
The price for the full copy from the series with the extension files (hard copy book, video art, audio file, certificate for authentication, memory gift) – 120 BNG / 60 euro.
Project Out of season by Iliyana Kancheva, 2020 – 2022, photo book & video art
Image: Photo book “OUT OF SEASON”, idea, photographs: Iliyana Kancheva, Design: Ralitsa Georgieva, archive by the artist
About this art work
Тhe photo-book “OUT OF SEASON”, created by the visual artist Iliyana Kancheva. It gathers a collection of photographs capturing the absurd landscapes of Sunny Beach resort in its unusual state – deserted and lonely, out of season.
“I walk through the deserted streets, there is no one. Only remnants of human presence are visible, neatly wrapped in stretch film and put away for the next season. The trash cans are empty too and the gulls are not busy scattering ice cream buckets around, they fly peacefully above me. No sound except from the birds and the wind. Nature can still be heard somewhere in the distance, but it’s barely visible beyond the fences, clipped and blended into a narrow band around the pool, under the plastic chaise-longue”
The sea is barely visible in the pictures in “Out of Season”, it is there in only three pictures. This is because the author has her back to it while photographing the highlights of human absence.
The Artist’s book is connected to the a video with borrowed text from an advertisement movie about Sunny Beach from 1977. The text was translated by the artist and voice generated by a bot. In the very strong contrast with this commercial, the video is showing one empty not only from people attention but also from sense and meaning humanized area, that is simply existing for the pleasure of its visitors.
As juxtapose of this is the nature surroundings, calming, speaking to the artist and showing the best side of this natural area when it is off season.
The project is a supplement and somewhat a continuation of the works already presented by Iliyana Kancheva in her exhibition Party Animal. A quick reminder of the 5 selected works presented last year on our website you can find here with the curatorial text by Petya Chalakova.
The price for the full copy from the series with the extension files (hard copy book, video art, certificate for authentication, memory gift) – 100 BNG / 50 euro.
You can also combine the art pieces with the other artworks from the exhibition Party Animals NOW ON SEASONAL SALE – 50%.
– All the art works from the collection Party Animals: series 1/10, photo print, 2021, 25×25 cm, framed, print on textile, 160×80 cm, price 75 (with image from the collection by customer choice). See the collection here