Re: [BKARTS] Telling of the Book Arts World

[Paul Bettinson <paul.bettinson@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Scott,

"...this reason that artist books will never be
taken as seriously as other forms of fine art by the established art
world."
I see what you mean, however, I really do think the 'established' art world
(gallery system?) take artists books seriously.  Its just that the
established art world tend to like to celebrate a much bigger profit than an
artist book can promise - unless of course it is a rare or asteemed artist
bookwork.

The "established art world" tend to navigate towards the buying and selling
of prints, photographs and commissioned sculptures than they would to a
beautifully made, conceptually stunning, artist
bookwork.

People by for their walls and floors than they do for their shelves - all
buy art for their minds but commercialism gets in the way now and again!
So, a bookwork with a hundred prints, existing as a delicately produced
half-box(?!) with several sculptural objects and ten photos and signed will
not get the full price in an established art world exhibition.

...anyway, you know what I mean.

The established, underground and reading public, I would like to think,
take artists books seriously -  noone can dismiss talent, beautiful
artworks and critical cultural content as easy as you mentioned.

with regards

Paul



On 12/30/05, Scott Teplin <teplin@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> It's tricky - because books often need to be more rigidly categorized
> with the need for cross referencing - unlike paintings or sculpture. I
> tend to see artist books less like literary books - and more like works
> of art. My point was, that when artist books are classified into themes
> - the most mediocre subjects always prevail. I mean - 'alphabets'?!
> What grade are we in here? It makes me wonder what audience these books
> are intended for. My guess is that they are for the same circle jerk
> crowd artist books always tend to swirl around in. I'm just saddened
> that most of the time, when I see a book arts show - its with artists
> books that are so painfully lacking in ideas. Innovative content is as
> important in art as form is, and most artist books usually ignore one
> for the other. It is for this reason that artist books will never be
> taken as seriously as other forms of fine art by the established art
> world.
>
> -Scott
>
> On Dec 30, 2005, at 11:02 AM, Lisa Beth Robinson wrote:
>
> >> It's sadly telling of the book arts world though, that under 'Find
> >> artists' books by Theme,' the categories listed are:
> >
> > Dear Scott and Community,
> >
> > what are other categories you propose?  How do you envision a
> > collection being categorized/organized?  By media and technique? Date
> > published?  Subject-theme?
> >
> > For those of us starting collections, what do you suggest as a
> > framework to use for organizing and cataloging a collection? (aside
> > from Library of Congress and OCLC)
> >
> > Take care and have a peaceful new year,
> > Lisa Beth
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Yahoo! for Good - Make a difference this year.
> > http://brand.yahoo.com/cybergivingweek2005/
> >
> >              ***********************************************
> > Now Online - The Bonefolder, Vol. 2, No. 1 at
> > <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
> >
> >              For all your subscription questions, go to the
> >                       Book_Arts-L FAQ and Archive.
> >
> >           See <http://www.philobiblon.com> for full information
> >              ***********************************************
> >
> >
> _____________________
> Scott Teplin
> Photo/Graphics Editor
> New York Times News Service
> 229 West 43rd St., Rm. 943
> New York, NY 10036
> Phone: (212) 556-4204,
> (888) 603-1036
> Fax: (212) 556-3535
>
>             ***********************************************
> Now Online - The Bonefolder, Vol. 2, No. 1 at <
> http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
>
>             For all your subscription questions, go to the
>                      Book_Arts-L FAQ and Archive.
>
>          See <http://www.philobiblon.com> for full information
>             ***********************************************
>



--
Paul Bettinson
Postboks 4703 Sofienberg
0506 Oslo
Norway
Tel: 0047 99534993
http://ncfab.org
---

             ***********************************************
Now Online - The Bonefolder, Vol. 2, No. 1 at <http://www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder>
                                    
             For all your subscription questions, go to the
                      Book_Arts-L FAQ and Archive.
                                    
          See <http://www.philobiblon.com> for full information
             ***********************************************