Dear Colleagues,  This discussion on artists' books has been very interesting.  I first began, as Head of the Frick Fine Arts Library at the University of Pittsburgh, to collect artists' books for our collection in the early 1990s.  I decided that we needed a few examples of this book form in our collection for three reasons.  Our rare and special books collection, I thought, should have a few examples since we had fine printed books, books by fine presses, livres d'artiste and other formats.  Secondly, I knew that a large change int he direction of the History of Art and Architecture was coming within a few years.  It was to (and now does) include the history of contemporary art.  There have been some retirements of faculty over my years here and the scholars in Medieval and Renaissance Art (while still taught) have changed to specialists in Contemporary art and also Contemporary Chinese Art!  Our department is now focused on modern and contemporary periods - on a global perspective.  This has changed collection development drastically, as everyone might imagine!

Back to artists' books.  We now have approximately 60 or so in our collection.  At first, they were not used because they were not known to exist here.  I began a series of rotating exhibits of them in our reading Room.  Interest increased.  The studio arts faculty and students began to come into the library!  And just last year for the first time in my entire career (over 40 years), I did more library instruction sessions about artists' books to Studio Arts classes than I did to art history courses!  The faculty have begun to assign book arts projects to the studio arts students.

I have just completed (but not yet published) a LibGuide on "Art in the Studio" and it has a tab that goes to information on artists' books, which includes an embedded video on the subject, along with books and book jacket images on "how to make" artists' books.  

The contemporary art professor is interested in working with me to expand our collection too.  So,the small collection I began has increased the number of patrons in the library (studio students and faculty) and led to creative results among art students.  

To those of you who wish to learn more about artists books, there are web sites and journal articles (some of which were published in Art Documentation) published about them. There are also books published about them.  For more information, please consult a (print) Library Guide I created several years ago about our collection.  Here is the web site for the PDF of it.

http://www.haa.pitt.edu/resources/documents/ArtistsBooks.pdf

This needs a little bit of revision....

By the way, I know that the Art Institute of Chicago - Library has a large and wonderful collection of artists' books.  And the Women's Art Museum in Washington, DC collects them.

Yours, Ray Anne Lockard
  




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From: ARLIS/NA List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joan Benedetti [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, November 19, 2010 12:33 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Question Concerning Librarians and Artists Books

Josh's response was heartening and Mo's is inspiring, both are passionate and insightful.  The possibility of opening up gems like these on a cold, grey Thursday is why I keep my subscription to ARLIS-L.  --Joan
----- Original Message -----
From: Mo Dawley<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 3:53 PM
Subject: Re: [ARLIS-L] Question Concerning Librarians and Artists Books

Here's a short passionate account about artists' books from my perspective:

I love teaching with artists' books - allowing hands-on access is critical- because I see how they change the lives of people who experience them across all boundaries and disciplines. People from the arts, humanities,  biology, engineering, kids, seniors and more have used our artists' books collection in coursework, classes and individual study or just for fun. I've seen the masks come down and  hearts open up. That is a sacred and humbling experience that I'm honored to be a part of.

Some of the "mystique" may be that artists' books are an open-ended never-ending process which tend to defy explanation.  I have never heard an artist book articulated anywhere near the same way twice... and I have heard a lot of students'  descriptions after twenty years of teaching with the collection.

The artists' books genre is quite diverse but some of the best examples are like chaos in all the right (not necessarily comfortable) places. It's not a mistake that many contemporary  artists' books evolved via the spirit of revolution of the 60s. Our familiar notions about the book may be exploded, but it is just that familiarity surrounding the idea of the book that helps us open to new paradigms..  Now is a great time for artists' books because we desperately need to become more aware beings, sensitive again to our world.

As such, artists' books are ESPECIALLY important in an academic setting  as they balance a one-dimensional mind-centered/ analytic approach prevalent in our education systems today.  In academia,  the effect of artists' books seems even more dramatic and effective because of that perceived imbalance.  I'm just today reading some reflection papers from psychology students who recently visited the artists' books collection.  I asked the professor I taught the class with  if I could see them (with permission of the students) after she raved about the papers waxing poetic. Title of the class? Introduction to Consciousness.

The most effective education is transliterate. It's the wave of the very near future, and it's here already with artists' books.  Artists' books are a perfect medium for inspiring a more whole learning experience because they heighten our awareness through any number of/many access points: the mind, body, senses, emotions and spirit.  The genre has survived this long  because of that.

Mo

--
Mo Dawley
Senior Librarian
Art and Drama Librarian
Carnegie Mellon University
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
412-268-6625



On 11/18/2010 12:14 PM, Patricia Barnett wrote:

Jenny Beard has posed a fascinating question that needs consideration-

The answer may well be that the collecting of artists books has more to do with the librarian’s familiarity (they are “books” after all) along with the curator’s lack of the same degree of devotion to the genre.



My library positions have always been at institutions that did not collect artists books (or rare books, per se), but rather books for their contents.  Even so, I too have been fascinated by the intensity of this area of special collections, and often wondered if there was as devoted a world of users – researchers and scholars -  to justify so many collections.  In the 1970’s, after identifying late 19th century travel/view books in the MMA Watson Library and enhancing the cataloging to identify photographers, etc., I then observed their transfer to the Prints & Photograph Department.  In retrospect – I believe the transfer was justified, as long as the library could maintain the cataloging information to share with its researchers, access could be provided, and the book conservator would be their primary care-taker.  Collaboration began to replace separate and distinct.



The artists books mystique is an example of antiquated issues at play – the book as object and/or information; the blurring of curatorial and librarian roles; and a romantic inclination toward “democratic” art.  Who are art librarians collecting for – their researchers or themselves?  Artists have been known to produce art for themselves, but if there weren’t so many art librarians collecting artists books, would there be so many artists books produced?



Let’s here from others who are actually in the field.

______________________________________________

Patricia J. Barnett

Chief Librarian Emerita of the Frick Art Reference Library

[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>     33 Greenwich Avenue #6J    New York NY  10014

212-243-4255 (NY)        646-206-8485 (mobile)       860-542-5889 (CT)









From: ARLIS/NA List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Beard
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2010 9:57 AM
To: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Question Concerning Librarians and Artists Books



Art Librarians,

I've been thinking about the relationship between librarians and artists books. The benefit to artists books is obvious: librarians have fostered the medium from the beginning by purchasing, preserving, offering critical perspective, and acting as defenders of the medium.

What is less discussed is how librarians and libraries benefit from their relationship with artists books. Of course there is pleasure in collecting as well as fulfilling the mission to preserve the cultural objects of our time. But is there a passion for artists books that, I think, borders the mysterious.

How can I better understand the personal and passionate interest of so many art librarians and curators in artists books?
For instance, how would a librarian be effected if their institution's collection of artists books was absorbed by another department or perhaps, sold off? The large collections of artists books seem to be in art libraries,and often in art museum libraries. Why not in art museum curatorial departments? How does the presence of artists book in library collection effect the morale of librarians?

What do artists books signify to librarians?

I'm wondering if anyone has any notions or personal anecdotes about why artists books are so very valuable to the profession of librarianship?

I would be very grateful for your comments, observations or references to interesting articles.

Jenny Beard
Graduate Assistant, Image Cataloger
Pratt SILS
MLIS Candidate, 2011

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