University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 201014

Artists’ booksA world of openingsPeter Di Sciascio

Regular readers of this journal willprobably have realised that if youscratch the surface of any one of theUniversity of Melbourne’s 32 culturalcollections, gems can be found. Thisis what I discovered when I embarkedon a Cultural Collections StudentProject in the second half of 2009,working in Special Collections at theBaillieu Library on the artists’ bookscollection. My brief was to conduct asignificance assessment of thecollection using the national protocolthat is being applied across theUniversity,1 and to draft a collectionpolicy to help guide the artists’ bookscollection into the future.By now I can already hear you

asking: what are artists’ books? Oneof my first tasks was to grapple withthis question of definition. I foundeven those in the art world often hadlittle understanding of artists’ books.Most of the articles and referencebooks I consulted dedicated space tothis question, as did conferences andsymposia on the topic.2 Defining agenre of art is not something that weare used to doing. We all know what apainting, a sculpture or photograph is,but if we think further we can alsothink of art, especially contemporaryart, which can straddle more than onegenre or even question our ideasabout what art is; that’s where youwill find artists’ books.

A recent historyAs an artistic genre, artists’ bookshave a fairly short history. They firstappeared in the mid-1960s in Europeand North America, part of themounting counter-culture and thegrowth of conceptual art. Artistswanted cheap, readily available,transportable ‘art for the people’ thatcould bypass the established artmarket. The format of the bookprovided a portable medium andallowed the artist to directly involvethe viewer in turning the pages,taking the journey, and discoveringconnected or disconnected worldswith each opening. Many of the earlyartists’ books were cheaply hand-made on the kitchen table, oftendistributed for free, or werecommercially produced in largeeditions under instructions from theartist.An early example of the

commercially produced variety isMichael Snow’s 1975 artists’ bookCover to cover, a copy of which is heldin the Lenton Parr Library at theSouthbank campus of the University’sVictorian College of the Arts andMusic. Cover to cover (illustratedopposite) is of the conceptualistphotographic type of artists’ book; itcontains no text and as the titleimplies, can be read forwards andbackwards, converging towards the

In the simplest terms, AlexSelenitsch (artist, poet and a seniorlecturer in architecture at theUniversity of Melbourne) writes thatit is ‘a book made by an artist, and ismeant as an artwork’.3 Others haveexplored the literature and discoveredmany definitions. I collected theseand came up with 23 that I thoughtwere worth noting.4 I then synthesisedthese, considered the history of artists’books, the University’s collection andthe direction of the art, and came upwith the following proposed definitionfor use in the collection policy:

Artists’ books are books or book-like objects, over the finalappearance of which an artist hashad a high degree of control:where the book is intended as awork of art in itself and/or ispresented by the artist as anartists’ book.5

Even the name of the genre tooknearly ten years to be settled. In 1973a landmark exhibition of artists’ bookswas held at the Moore College of Art in Philadelphia.6 It was at thisexhibition that the term artists’ bookswas generally agreed upon, althoughthe use of the apostrophe is stilldebated.7 Until then they were alsoreferred to as bookworks, bookart orbook objects.

University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 2010 15

centre. Both the front and back coversare illustrated with a photograph of awood-panelled door. The appearanceof figures, cameras, images withinimages, blank sheets of paper,windows and doorways on each pagecreates a thread to connect whatmight otherwise be disparate images.An Australian artist involved in

the early days of the movement isRobert Jacks. Jacks was in NorthAmerica from 1968 to 1977 andstarted producing small, hand-madeartists’ books, often using histrademark feature of hand-stamping.Designs were made, old-fashionedrubber stamps produced, and thepages of the books were hand-stamped with the designs. At times,Jacks distributed them freely.8 SpecialCollections in the Baillieu Libraryand the University of Melbourne ArtCollection (managed by the IanPotter Museum of Art) each hold acopy of this series of hand-stampedbooks made by Jacks between 1973and 1982 (illustrated on page 16).As time progressed, artists

explored the genre further, pushingthe boundaries as they often do. Noone type dominates. Some examplesare sculptural, involving metal, woodand other mixed media in a book-likeform. Others use altered books—found books altered in some way topresent a different idea from that of

the original book. Then there arethose that mix poetry or literature in avisual journey, sometimes referred toas concrete or visual poetry. Manyinvolve original works of art onpaper—such as prints or drawings—while some are totally photographic,with the images conveying a story,concept or idea. Bindings can rangefrom simple and handmade toelaborate and finely executedexamples of the bookbinder’s craft.Artists’ books may be unique (i.e.only one copy is made) or, moreusually, of limited edition (often fewerthan ten copies), although largereditions still occur, as do unlimitededitions. Limited edition artists’

books are commonly signed andnumbered by the artist.Since about the year 2000, Special

Collections in the Baillieu Library hasbecome a dedicated collector ofartists’ books. The University now hasapproximately 225 artists’ books inthe collection, representing a range ofstyles. Most are by Australian artists,with a good representation ofcontemporary practice since the mid-1990s. A recent acquisition is a bookby Melbourne artist Angela Cavalieri,titled Le città continue. It is a large(57.0 cm high) example of theconcertina book type (illustrated onback cover). The artist’s statementbest describes the work:

Michael Snow, Cover to cover (artists’ book, 150 leaves, all photographically illustrated, height: 23.0 cm), Halifax: Nova Scotia

College of Art and Design, 1975. Lenton ParrLibrary, University of Melbourne.

University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 201016

Le città continue (Continuous cities)is based on text from the Italianversion of Italo Calvino’s, Le cittàinvisibili (Invisible cities). Inparticular, Le città continue is one ofthe ‘cities’ invented by Calvino andI chose this city because it gave mea sense of space and infinite time.

I wanted to create the sensation Ioften have when entering and re-entering a city. For me it feels likea continuous journey and althoughcities vary, it appears you are in thesame ‘space’ and you can dissolveinto it.

Through the book you are enteringfrom one passage way into anotherbut they appear to be the same‘space’. The arch symbolises this‘passage way’ and on opening thisbook you view a large arch whichslowly diminishes into the lastpage.9

This work by Cavalieri is a goodexample of the best of current artists’books, having won the Geelong ArtGallery’s annual Acquisitive PrintAward for 2009.One enjoyable aspect of my

project has been the discovery ofartists’ books in various branches ofthe University Library. These werenot counted in the number citedabove, as they are not part of theSpecial Collections Artists’ BooksCollection. My research, involvinghours of mining the Library’scatalogue, uncovered an additional 70artists’ books, both international andAustralian, dating back to the1960s.10 While some were identifiedas an artists’ book in the catalogue byuse of various subject headings, 70 percent were not. A future project forsomeone will be to review thecataloguing of artists’ books in theUniversity Library to capture all theexamples held and to ensureconsistency in the cataloguing style.A collection is now in place at

Robert Jacks, 12 hand stamped books, 1973–1982(colour impressions from rubber stamps, printer’sink, staples and colour cloth tape, black buckrambox with red ribbon; 11.5 x 12.5 cm, in slipcase12.0 x 13.0 x 5.0 cm), New York and Sydney:Robert Jacks, 1973–1982. Each volume separatelytitled. Special Collections, Baillieu Library,University of Melbourne. Another set is held inthe University of Melbourne Art Collection(accession no. 1989.0059.001.013, gift of JulienneJacks, 1989, Ian Potter Museum of Art, Universityof Melbourne). © Robert Jacks. Image courtesy ofthe artist and Peter Anderson. Photography by Ian H. Hill.

University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 2010 17

the University which can provide avaluable resource for visual artstudents, artists and anyone interestedin art, artists’ books and books.

A pre-historyWhile it appeared that the genre ofartists’ books just sprang out of the1960s, a closer look at the precedingyears can identify books that containelements of today’s artists’ books, orcould in fact be classified as artists’books with a retrospective applicationof the definition.An example of the latter is the

Australian book by Violet Teague andGeraldine Rede, Night fall in the ti-tree (illustrated on page 19 and onfront cover). Not only did this bookbreak new ground in its use of hand-coloured woodcut prints, but it wasentirely conceived, handmade andhand-bound (with yellow silk ribbon)by the artists. The University is luckyto hold three copies of this book.Other examples from this pre-

history of artists’ books (which I referto as antecedent artists’ books) are:French Livres d’artiste; fine/specialpress books; Dada publications;Surrealist publications; ItalianFuturist publications; Russian avant-garde/Constructivist publications;concrete and visual poetry; works byStéphane Mallarmé; and works byWilliam Blake. Many of these types

contain elements of artists’ books,such as significant involvement of theartists, hand-making and productionin limited editions. They are visuallyartistic or representative of an artisticmovement.

A connection to placeThe project also allowed me toconnect the University to a number ofevents important to the history ofartists’ books in Australia.In 1978 the University’s Ewing

and George Paton Galleries held anexhibition of artists’ books, believedto be the first of its kind in

Australia.11 The University Libraryholds two copies of the extensivecatalogue accompanying theexhibition,12 which included aselection of recent artists’ books andephemera from the Los AngelesInstitute of Contemporary Art, one-of-a-kind books from the FranklinFurnace Archive,13 as well as aselection of Australian artists’ bookscurated by Noel Sheridan of theExperimental Art Foundation inAdelaide. Following its season at theUniversity, the exhibition travelled toSydney and Brisbane. The quirky,handmade look of the advertising

Photographer unknown, Visitor views the displayof artists’ books from the Franklin Furnace at theEwing and George Paton Galleries, University of

Melbourne, 1978. Photographic slide. George Paton Gallery Collection, 90/144,

University of Melbourne Archives. © GeorgePaton Gallery. Image reproduced courtesy of the

George Paton Gallery and the University of Melbourne Archives.

University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 201018

poster (illustrated above) is in keepingwith the nature of some of the artists’books of the time. As one of thelibrary staff commented to me, ‘cooltypography’.A history of the George Paton

Gallery has recently been published.14

It seems that the artists’ bookexhibition was in line with theGallery’s program of presentingcutting-edge art, which continues tothis day. In the Gallery’s records, nowheld at the University of MelbourneArchives,15 I found a collection ofslide images from the 1978exhibition. One slide depicts a womanviewing a selection of artists’ booksfrom the Franklin Furnace Archivelaid out on a table (illustrated on page17). Note the visitors were allowed tohandle the artwork!The Australian section of the

1978 exhibition then travelled to theUSA in late 1979, firstly to theFranklin Furnace in New York, thento other locations. The exhibition,titled Contemporary Australianbook/works, was curated by Jill Scottand co-curated by Kiffy Rubbo of theEwing and George Paton Galleriesand Noel Sheridan of theExperimental Art Foundation inAdelaide. This is believed to be thefirst international exhibition ofAustralian artists’ books.Unfortunately a catalogue of this

momentous exhibition was not found,but I did find flyers, correspondenceand a selection of photographic slidesin the George Paton Gallery archive.16

From 30 June to 22 July 1983 theGeorge Paton Gallery held a secondexhibition of artists’ books.17 Theexhibition, in two parts, was ofinternational artists’ books puttogether by a Canadian, Tim Guestof Art Metropole, Toronto, and anItalian, Mirella Bentivoglio. Guest’sexhibition featured 28 internationalartists’ books including works byleaders in the field Dieter Roth,Michael Snow and Edward Ruscha.18

An image from an artists’ book byLuigi Ontani was included on thefront cover of the catalogue.19

Bentivoglio’s exhibition includedworks by 22 Italian artists.20 TheGeorge Paton Gallery’s director notedthat both these exhibitions drew alarge number of people to thegallery.21 The Age art critic, MemoryHolloway, reviewed the exhibitionand after asking the question ‘Whenis a book not a book, but a work ofart?’, she noted that ‘You are invitedby the gallery to put on a pair ofwhite gloves and then to move in andaround the white tables which arestrewn with books.’22

In May 2006 the Baillieu Libraryheld a symposium to accompany theexhibition Art bound: A selection of

artists’ books.23 The core of theexhibition of 72 works was drawnfrom the Baillieu’s stronglydeveloping collection of artists’ books.Additional works were sourcedthrough the Art in the LibraryProgram, including examples fromstudents of the University’s School ofCreative Arts. The exhibition washeld in the Baillieu Library’s LeighScott Gallery and the books weredisplayed in glass cabinets.24 Thesymposium brought together a rangeof interested parties and speakers,including a number of practisingartists who presented on the topic ofartists’ books.25

At about this point my projecttime was fast running out. I hadlearned more than I could haveimagined about artists’ books, anddiscovered some of the delights ofSpecial Collections and theUniversity of Melbourne Archives.Artists’ books are a living andevolving art form. The opportunityexists for the University to expand thecollection along with the art’sdevelopment and maintain what is asignificant collection.

I would like to thank Pam Pryde (Curator), SusanMillard (Deputy Curator) and all the staff inSpecial Collections at the Baillieu Library for theirassistance with this project, as well as KarinaLamb, Acting Student Projects Coordinator(Cultural Collections), who provided valuablesupport along the way.

Artists books: Bookworks, poster for exhibition held 5–22 September 1978, at the Ewing andGeorge Paton Galleries, University of Melbourne.Poster lithograph; 45.0 x 32.0 cm. System number001779618, National Gallery of AustraliaResearch Library. © George Paton Gallery. Image reproduced courtesy of the National Galleryof Australia Research Library.

University of Melbourne Collections, Issue 6, June 2010 19

Peter Di Sciascio is a clinical biochemist andquality manager in a medical laboratory. He iscurrently studying part-time for a graduatediploma of arts at the University of Melbourne, forwhich he enjoys ‘using the other half of my brain’.

Notes

1 Roslyn Russell and Kylie Winkworth,Significance 2.0: A guide to assessing thesignificance of collections, Adelaide: CollectionsCouncil of Australia, 2009.

2 See Stefan Klima, Artists books: A critical surveyof the literature, New York: Granary Books,1998, pp. 21–40; and Betty Bright, No longerinnocent: Book art in America 1960–1980, New York: Granary Books, 2005, pp. 1–15, 258–265.

3 Alex Selenitsch, Australian artists books, Parkes,ACT: National Gallery of Australia, 2008, p. 5.

4 The definitions were drawn from varioussources. Both Ford and Turner are particularlyhelpful. Simon Ford, ‘Artists’ books in UK &Eire libraries’, Art Libraries Journal, vol. 18, no. 1, 1993, pp. 14–25. Silvie Turner (ed.),Facing the page: British artists’ books, a survey1983–1993, London: estamp, 1993, pp. 4–11.

5 This definition borrows substantially from thatof Stephen Bury, Artists’ books: The book as awork of art, 1963–1995, Aldershot: ScolarPress, 1995, p. 1.

6 Moore College of Art, Artists books (exhibitioncatalogue), Philadelphia: Moore College ofArt, 1973.

7 Sue Forster, ‘Editor’s note’, Imprint, vol. 44, no. 1, Autumn 2009, p. 12.

8 Peter Anderson, Jacks: The artist’s books ofRobert Jacks, Bendigo: Bendigo Art Gallery,2009, p. 12.

9 Angela Cavalieri, Le città continue, 2009,artist’s statement provided by Gallery 101.

10 Michael Snow’s Cover to cover is an example ofthe artists’ books found elsewhere in theUniversity Library.

11 The gallery is owned and operated by theMelbourne University Student Union. It waspreviously called the Ewing and George Paton

Galleries but is now called the George PatonGallery. See Helen Vivian (ed.), When youthink about art: The Ewing and George PatonGalleries 1971–2008, Melbourne: Macmillan,2008.

12 Artists books, bookworks (exhibition catalogue),Melbourne: Ewing and George PatonGalleries, 1978. Copies held in SpecialCollections, Baillieu Library, and Lenton ParrLibrary, University of Melbourne.

13 At the time the Franklin Furnace Archive wasthe archive of artists’ books and a centre forartists’ books knowledge. In 1993 the archivewas taken over by the Museum of Modern Artin New York where it still exists as a distinctcollection. See Alexandra Anderson-Spivy,‘The museum acquires a pioneering collectionof artist books’, MoMA, no. 16, Winter–Spring1994, pp. 7–9.

14 Vivian, When you think about art.15 George Paton Gallery Collection, accessionno. 90/144, University of Melbourne Archives.

16 For poster, advertising flyer and press releasesee George Paton Gallery Collection, accessionno. 90/144, box 3, University of MelbourneArchives.

17 Vivian, When you think about art, p. 132.18 Artists’ books: George Paton Gallery (exhibitioncatalogue, curated by Tim Guest), [Parkville]:The Gallery, 1983.

19 Luigi Ontani, Untitled, 1974, cat. no. 17, inArtists’ books: George Paton Gallery. A copy ofOntani’s book (Luigi Ontani, Untitled, 1978edition) is in the George Paton GalleryCollection, accession no. 90/144, box 9,University of Melbourne Archives.

20 Not(e) books: Exhibition of object books,(exhibition booklet, curated by MirellaBentivoglio), Parkville: George Paton Gallery,University of Melbourne, 1983.

21 July gallery report, 26 July 1983. George PatonGallery Collection, accession no. 90/144, boxlabelled ‘George Paton Gallery – Exhibitions2, 1983’, University of Melbourne Archives.

22 Memory Holloway, ‘Art’, The Age, 20 July1983, p. 14.

23 University of Melbourne, InformationServices, Art bound: A selection of artists’ books:

23 May – 26 July 2006 (exhibition catalogue),[Parkville]: University of Melbourne, 2006.

24 Note that we had progressed from white glovesand there was no handling of the art. Morerecent exhibitions of artists’ books I haveattended still have the books under glass butinclude digital flat screens with scrollingimages of the pages of the artists’ books. Somecan be interactive and one example includedthe sound of the turning pages, something likethe sound of turning parchment pages, thusmimicking the full experience for the viewer(e.g. Working through/turning pages: The artist’sbooks of Robert Jacks, exhibition held at BendigoArt Gallery, 24 October – 29 November2009).

25 The proceedings of the symposium areavailable at www.library.unimelb.edu.au/art/exhibitions/past/artbound/symposium accessed9 December 2009.

Violet Teague and Geraldine Rede, Night fall inthe ti-tree (illustrated book, designed, illustrated,printed and hand-bound by the artists; colourwoodcut; 32 pages), London: Elkin Matthews,1906. Joyce Thorpe Nicholson Collection, Special Collections, Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne.