Book as artifact--
New chapter opens with Britain's first centre for book arts | Art and design | The Guardian: " . . . Simon Goode, on the other hand, roamed the country to explore the joys of papermaking, typesetting and bookbinding. "The trip was like a holy grail," he said, rhapsodising over three months travelling from New York to Los Angeles on a mission that has helped result in Britain's first ever centre for a craft that is in danger of disappearing: book arts. That term may be a mystery to some. . . Essentially, it is creating art in book form. "Then you've got the question, what is a book?" he added. "My experiences define it as using traditional techniques, like bookbinding and letterpress making – but not wholly, and not exclusively – for artists to produce their own works." . . . Richard Long, David Hockney and Ed Ruscha, whose first artist's book was Twenty-Six Gasoline Stations, which featured 26 photographs . . . In the UK, the largest number of artists' books is held by the V&A, while Tate has about 5,500. It could be said that book arts have been around since medieval illuminated manuscripts, but the craft as we know it emerged from the French tradition of the livres d'artistes, or livres de peinture, around the turn of the 20th century. Since then there have been futurist artists' books, surrealist artists' books, conceptual artists' books and more. . . in the US, where the first book arts centre opened in New York 38 years ago, with others following in cities such as Chicago, Minneapolis, Portland, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Goode said his trip to the US "visiting these incredible institutions" was a complete eye-opener and that it was these experiences which led him to create the London Centre for Book Arts in a 365-square metre space in Fish Island, Hackney, which has been funded by membership fees and benefactors. The centre will offer classes and workshops for both beginners in search of a hobby and professionals who just cannot easily access the specialist equipment needed to create their own artists' books. . . ."
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