Artists’ Books Let us consider this quote from Sol Lewitt : “Artists’ books are, like any other medium, a means of conveying art ideas from the artist to the viewer. Unlike most other media, they are available at a low cost. They do not need a special place to be seen. They are not valuable except for the ideas they contain. Art shows come and go, but books stay around for years. It is the desire of artists that their ideas be understood by as many people as possible. Books make it easier to accomplish this.”  Questions we may ask when creating an artists’ book: What is an artists’ book and how can publications be conceived as artworks in their own right? How do artists utilize form, medium and research concepts to develop a body of work? In what way can printmaking aid in creating an artists book? What do we want to say within this artists’ book, what will the form help us communicate?

Readings Each week there will be readings that will expand on the conceptual ideas discussed in the course. One student will be in charge of leading the discussion, with questions for that week with the group. Please make a presentation with any important background context information and images about the reading.

The readings will not be directly about the subject of this course—Artists’ Books—but about the many ideas that artists consider in their own practice that influences their output. The readings are sample of Artist’s writings taken from many vantage points and from varying moments of art history. These readings will broaden your scope and allow you to be open minded about concepts that you may be able to utilize in your own work. You will be expected to write a short response to the reading on Are.na We will also have a short discussion each week about what we have read.

Presentations Each week the student who is leading the discussion will also give a presentation about a particular Artists Work and how they used the format of Artists’ Books or Multiples in their practice. * Astericks connote a special book available for research just ask*

Choose your own Book As part of the presentation you will also be asked to share an Artist Book of your choice. Below are some resources to help you find some books you can share. The book you share doesn’t have to be a physical copy (but it could be), digital examples accepted.

Book Artists Research List Reed College Resource
MoMA Library Dadabase Reading List: Artists’ Selections from the MoMAs collection Printed Matter Bookstore Monoskop Art Metropole Bookstore Ooga Booga Store Center for Book Arts

Studio Etiquette It is a privilege to be able to use the print studio at Lehigh. Treat the studio with the upmost respect. You need to plan in advance and use the calendars below to book time on the press. If you leave the print studio a mess and / or are careless with materials or equipment you will have two warnings and then be penalized one full letter grade. If you break or damage the equipment you will be financially responsible to replace whatever is damaged, this includes rollers, blankets, plexi, glass, ink etc. If you are absent more than three classes during the semester (without special permission from the dean’s office) you will be penalized one full letter grade. Same with lateness, three late starts equals one absence. It is your responsibility to find out what you have missed.

We will have a Workshop / Demo of a technique you can utilize in the printshop, please do not miss demo days as then you will not able to use the printshop equipment. You must work with a partner when in the printshop (no working alone), there must be either a monitor present or another student that has also been trained to use the printshop. You must work outside of class time to complete your projects, a recommendation of a minimum of 3 — 5 hrs per week to plan and organize what you will be making. Please think ahead when you need to order paper, supplies and materials. There are resources listed below, know that things take time, give yourself space, so you will be able to access what you need, when you need it. Some materials like newsprint, ink and tools will be available for you and others you will need to order or go and pick up, like paper, specialty binding or other materials.

Other Policies are listed here.

Book Press Time Calendar Access here:
Silkscreen 1
Silkscreen 2
Charles Brand
French Tool

Week 1 — Introduction
Introduction to artists’ books history from the Avant Garde, to Conceptualist and beyond. Instructor will lead an in depth lecture and discussion and show examples of relevant books to the class. We will look at the trajectory of artists’ books history and importance from Fluxus, Ed Ruscha, Sol Lewitt, Adrian Piper, Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, Lucy Lippard, Kiki Smith, El Lissitzky etc. We will discuss the difference between a catalogue, monograph and and artists’ book. This week we will also choose artists who work in books from a list provided by the instructor to be researched by the students and present their findings to the rest of the class weekly. A schedule for signing up for presentations will be organized as well. We will begin by discussing the first scheduled reading. There are many books available on reserve in the Library to help you, as well as a selection of Artists’ Books. In order to gain access to the studios we will take care of any training and or facilities information this week. We will check in to find out how much printmaking experience each student has and this will facilitate demos / information as the course progresses.

Week 2-3—Zines
Using Paul Thek’s notes as a starting point consider your own artistic manifesto. Write down said manifesto and conceptualize how to turn your manifesto into a zine. You can use a photocopier for this project, All zines should be 8.5 x 5.5 (Half a letter sheet) consider colored paper stock and you should make enough copies to trade with everyone in the class. There will be a long armed stapler and bone folders available for binding. Possible visit to the library and their collection of science fiction zines.

Week 4-7—Conceptual Artists’ Books + Binding 101
After a discussion about the conceptual underpinnings of David Askevold’s project class at NSCAD, and looking at conceptual artists’ ideas of this era (i.e. N.E. Thing and Co., George Brecht, Marcel Broodthaers, Lee Lozano) you will consider an action and or idea and attempt to make a book from it. The form that this ‘book’ takes is completely open — It can be anything, (ie. Yoko Ono’s a box of smile, John Baldessari, Throwing Three Balls in the Air to Get a Straight Line (Best of Thirty-Six Attempts)) as long as it contains a conceptual idea. As a class we will facilitate a demo on various simple types binding techniques that may be of interest to you, saddle stich, perfect binding, sewn signatures, endpaper and alternative methods.

Week 8-10 —Partner up, Image based book
With a partner + utilizing your skills in whatever technique in printmaking you are proficient at (ie. Mono print, silkscreen, chine collé, etc.) You will create a book that contains at least 10 images and no text whatsoever (other than your names and the title of the book). The images should be full bleed and have some kind of thread that ties them together. What the concept for the book is entirely up to you. How will you create something within these constraints?

Week 10-14—Complete your own Artists’ Book Final Project
Research, conceptualize and create your own Artists Book for the final project of this class. Questions you should ask yourself about your book: What is the size and format? What do I want to convey with this work? How will binding / paper stock / imagery allow me to communicate my ideas? Will there be text? Will there be images? Mid project check-ins during Week 12, including a physical maquette and a timeline for how you will complete the work will ensure that you are progressing with your assignment.

The only minimum requirement for this project is you will have completed at least (if not more than) 20 hours of work on the project and have some kind physical object to show for it (1 Copy of your book). You should be prepared to speak about the ideas of your work in depth during a class critique.

Week 15—Final Project Due