The art of the book

Book Unbound, currently on exhibit at Agnes Scott’s Dalton Gallery, liberates the typical form and function of books by exploring the limitless potential of this medium as a vehicle of visual poetic expression. The exhibit reflects how artists, by using the book as cultural icon, are able to expand conceptual art outside of galleries and into an inherently democratic space. This extensive international collection of artists’ books, bookworks, sculptures and multimedia works suggests that when unbound and examined as a container of visual and verbal content, the book has a greater ability to inform and influence individuals.
The collection begins with a historical comparison of books “unbound” from the formal codex manner. In a juxtaposition of contemporary and historic forms, Atlanta artist Ruth Laxson’s “Muse Measures,” featuring copper engraving plates and print works, is placed next to antique Chinese engraving plates and prints. Berwyn Hung’s “Elemental,” featuring six wax scrolls, is placed next to ancient Tibetan prayer scrolls. The arrangement of old and new forms exemplifies the artists’, rather than the writers’, significance in creating and maintaining the narrative experience throughout time.
Progressing into the 20th century and demonstrating the accordion fold is Edward Ruscha’s “Every Building on the Sunset Strip,” an important example from the artists’ book movement in the ’60s and ’70s. By printing his books in large quantities and distributing them en masse, Ruscha demonstrated the meaningful relationship between conceptual artists and the artists’ press, where artists could publish their works inexpensively and have total control of the content and form of their publications. This production movement heralded the democracy inherent in publishing artists’ books by producing pieces available to large audiences outside traditional gallery spaces.
The exhibit progresses to larger works including Miranda Maher’s installation “(harmless) Little (harmless) Fantasies (harmless),” in which romance and porn novels are shredded and manipulated into small harnesses and hung from the ceiling by leashes. Maher’s works consistently dissect information contained in text and its cultural restrictions, while “Scrutiny in the Great Round,” a CD-ROM book by Tennessee Rice Dixon and Jim Gasperini, examines the cultural restrictions of the actual container of the text. “Scrutiny in the Great Round” not only takes the book outside its traditional container and into an audio and visual experience, but it also allows the viewer to control the sequence of the narrative. Using the book as a touchstone, Atlanta artist David Laufer’s trompe l’oeil book sculptures also decipher the cultural relationship between content and packaging. Removing the text, Laufer is able to create searing social commentaries by displaying “flashy, low-cost ‘textless’ tombs” in which the text is imagined or described as “sold separately.”
Proving most effectively that artists’ books are to be purposefully displayed and experienced outside traditional gallery spaces, the exhibit extends on campus to the Bradley Observatory and the McCain Library.
Appropriately located in the McCain Library are works that question whether “the book is dead.” Mark Amerika’s “GRAMMATRON,” an online book located at www.grammatron.com, combines text, images and sound emancipating the book from its paper tomb and creating an online audio, visual and textual experience. Amerika argues against the obsolescence of the book by describing “GRAMMATRON” as “depict[ing] a near-future world where stories are no longer conceived for book production but are instead developed for a more immersive networked-narrative environment.” Comparatively Tom Williams’ piece “The Book Is Dead” argues against the new democracy of Internet publishing by noting the important tactile relationship between the reader and the text. Williams states that “when using books, we are able to touch the printed word, therefore the relationship is extremely close.”
The true magic of the exhibit takes place in the reading room display area. This experiential library unveils the aura of the artists’ book and provides closer scrutiny of the works by allowing individuals direct contact with a multitude of nontraditional narratives. This interaction immerses the audience into an intimate experience of Book Unbound and celebrates the relationship between people and books.
The unique vibrancy of Book Unbound is a result of the endlessly fruitful ways each artist interprets books and their cultural meaning. Providing an adventurous visual and tactile opportunity to experience art, Book Unbound appeals to all who love books and is a worthy trip to the Dalton Gallery.
Book Unbound is on view through March 30 at The Dalton Gallery of Agnes Scott College, 141 E. College Ave. An Atlanta Artists’ Talk, featuring Anne Beidler, Marcia Cohen, Brad Freeman, David Laufer, Ruth Laxson and Michele Shauf, will take place Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. at the Dalton Gallery. For information call 404-471-5361.