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In 1985 I came across Liz Vels’ hand-made book-shaped object on the Cape Town Triennial Exhibition, South Africa. I found this object intriguing as I had not expected to find a book in an art exhibition. This book, however, contained no text (at least not on the pages exhibited) and for the first time I saw the potential of the book as an art object. The book itself challenged my expectations further in that it did not conform to what I considered the conventions of the medium, in that it was a book, but it did not have text.
My decision to research the book as an artwork was made when I viewed Selected Poems 1961 – 1991. This book was a collaborative effort between the poet Patrick Cullinan; the artist Judith Mason, who produced the illuminations and illustrations; Mark Attwood, who hand printed the book; Bruce Attwood, who made the wooden cover boards and Johan Maree who bound the book.
After having been introduced to Jack Ginsberg and his extraordinary collection of Artists’ Books I was invited by Steven Sack, then of the Johannesburg Art Gallery, to curate the only exhibition of Artists’ Books ever held in South Africa. A significant portion of Jack’s collection formed the basis of the exhibition to which I added a number of local works which I was uncovering and researching at the time. Artists’ Books in the Ginsberg Collection became one of the largest exhibitions of its kind in the world when it opened in 1996.
This site was launched to coincide with the opening of the exhibition Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface at the 2006 Aardklop Arts Festival.
The site contains:
- Sections of my original research entitled South African Artists’ Books and Book-Objects Since 1960
- More recent writings on the Book Arts
- An extensive, searchable database of South African Artists’ Books
- Navigable catalogues of the exhibitions: Artists’ Books in the Ginsberg Collection and Navigating the Bookscape: Artists’ Books and the Digital Interface and
- Links to other websites concerning the Book Arts and, particularly, the Artist’s Book.
Jack and I invite you to browse our site and welcome your comments. If you have any original textual research material which you feel would contribute to the field, we invite you to submit it for consideration.
David Paton
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