the typewriter

As part of our Gutter project we used a typewriter. The reason for us, was that it is the most transportable way of printing on site without having to have a computer and a printer.  It doesn't need electricity or take up a lot of room, so fits into our project quite nicely, allowing us to print a publication during the duration of the fair.

Photo: Pauline Lamont-Fisher

So I'm going to explore a few creative uses of the typewriter in various forms. 

Instructions for the use of the Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter

Firstly this manual for the use of an Olivetti typewriter from the 50's. Though not intended as a piece of art it is beautifully designed and reads like a piece of concrete poetry. It sums up the modern differences in keyboard design which enthralled so many people at the fair. The 'experience' of the typewriter, the noise, the extra pressure you put on the keys added an interesting layer to the event. Also what I liked was that the backspace key pointed in the direction the carriage moved and not in the direction it now points on a modern keyboard. I wonder when this change in direction appeared?

Instructions for the use of the Olivetti Lettera 22 typewriter

Carl Andre - then I pulled his gun and I, 1975

Carl Andre - PLAN (Yucatan), 1972

Carl Andre

I couldn't look at the typewriter without looking at concrete poetry which seems to form a big part of its creative use, like these typewriter drawings and poems by Carl Andre. It did strike me while using the typewriter the other weekend, that there is something quite freeing about an analogue way of working. If you don't mind not having perfectly straight lines of text, the typewriter works more like a drawing with a slightly less than precise form of mark making. 

Ed Ruscha - Royal Road Test 1967

While doing this typewriter research I came across this fun book by Ed Ruscha that I wasn't aware of. Some might be repulsed by it but it fits into this post on the creative use of a typewriter quite nicely. 

This artists' book documents the destruction of a Royal (Model 'X') typewriter that was thrown from a car travelling at 90 m.p.h. The book being an interpretation of Jack Kerouac’s 1959 novel, On the Road. Various parts of the typewriter that were scattered far and wide were documented along with the remaining body of the typewriter itself and the artist inspecting it. 

I'll leave you with this: 'The Typewriter' a piece of classical music from the 50's written by Leroy Anderson. Reminding us that the typewriter can not only be used to draw with, record text and be thrown out of a speeding car, but can also be used to make music. Enjoy!

[George]

GUEST POST: Artists’ Book Fairs (Pauline Lamont-Fisher)

When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes. 

Desiderius Erasmus

 
Artists’ Book Fairs take place throughout the year in various cities in the UK. I have been to several as a visitor and I have had tables at quite a few too. I love the artists’ book fairs as they each have their own unique atmosphere and character. I remember going to one that had loud raucous music playing all day. It seemed so incongruous with books, which I associate with quiet contemplation, and prevented any discussion about the work. Another fair I visited in London was so crowded that I could hardly move. That was a zines fair and very different in character, content and visitors from the artists’ book fairs I am used to.

Artists’ book fairs offer a unique opportunity to present your own work and get feedback from the visitors. They also provide an opportunity to have work seen by private collectors as well as librarians and archivists from public collections. They give a good indication of how to price work and what sells and what does not.

Egidija at the Small Publishers’ Fair in London

 
Over the years you get to make friends with fellow makers and meet familiar faces, which is such an important aspect of the shows for me. Being an artist tends to be a solitary occupation so that interaction is a good opportunity to catch up and discuss ideas and new work. Artists come from all over Europe as well as the UK, which is stimulating and adds diversity.


My favourite fair is BABE; The Bristol Artist’s Book Event which is held biannually at the Arnolfini gallery in Bristol. The Arnolfini is an old warehouse with high ceilings and makes a superb venue for the book fair. It is the biggest fair I have been to and the gallery is so spacious that there is plenty of room for people to circulate. The ambiance makes it easy to talk and interact with interested visitors. The facilities are excellent too, not the least because of the tea trolley manned by Snoozie and laden with delicious cakes baked by Pearly King! http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/projects/babe.html

BABE 2015 photograph: Chris Evans http://porpentile.blogspot.co.uk

All the Artist’s Book fairs I have been to have been well organized and well
run. The table sizes are usually pretty standard and I have my own linen table
cloth that I take to each. Having said I love the fairs I always hate them before
I get there as packing up, organizing and finishing those last minute jobs can
be stressful. However as soon as I arrive at my destination I feel glad to be
there and enjoy unpacking and setting up.

Setting up at Liverpool Artists’ Book Fair

Talking to visitors is enjoyable. You can always spot the students as they want to know the name of the paper used and how the book was made, but that’s OK. Other visitors are more interested in what the work was inspired by or what it is about. The book fairs are held in different parts of the country and at different times. They make a good goal to be working towards as I try to make a new book for each one that I have a table at. Normally booking tables is about 3 or 4 months before the event and has to be done when the call for participants is made to avoid disappointment. Some of the events use the website Curator Space for applications and that is a great place to store images and details of the imprint.

I try to have a handling copy of each book on the table. I have found that most
people handle books carefully and considerately. However I have also had stressful moments when someone with dirty hands picks up a book. I have also had people holding cups of coffee over the table, which can be alarming.

Manchester Artists’ Book Fair

One of the most irritating things is a table blocker: someone who stands talking either to someone else or on a mobile right in front of the table. They are not looking at work but stopping anyone else from looking too. That has happened to me several times and on the last occasion I actually plucked up the courage to ask them to move on!



 
The upcoming artist’s book fairs are:
10th Manchester Artists' Book Fair on Friday 16th and Saturday 17th October,
11am – 5pm, in the Manchester School of Art’s Holden Gallery.
Plymouth Artists’ Book Fair Counter 2015 at KARST in Plymouth on
Saturday 24th October, 12-6pm.
The Small Publishers’ Fair at the Conway Hall in London on November 5th
and 6th, 11am-7pm.
Tables for these book fairs will have gone by now but for visitors the
admission is free and they usually have events alongside, so well worth a
visit.

Some annual Artists’ Book Fairs:
Edinburgh: The Fruit Market: Artists’ Book Market: February
Leeds: Pages Leeds Artists’ Book Fair: March
Bristol: Bristol Artist’s Book Event: April (bi annual - next one 2017)
Norwich: Turn the Page: May
Liverpool: Liverpool Artists’ Book Fair: July
Newcastle: Baltic Artist’s Book Market: July
Manchester: Artists' Book Fair: October
Plymouth: Counter: October
London: Small Publishers’ Fair: November
Curator Space http://www.curatorspace.com

Pauline Lamont-Fisher is an artist, who makes artist’s books. Her principle inspiration is walking in both urban and rural environments and her artist’s books reflect her interest in the landscape.  She holds a BA (Hons) in Fine Art, a Postgraduate Diploma in Book Arts and Crafts from the London College of Communication and an MA in Visual Arts (Book Arts) from Camberwell College of Arts, University of the Arts, London.  She exhibits internationally and her work is held in public and private collections.

BABE 2015 - from behind the table

 

Our table in BABE 2015

Firstly I would like to say how impressed I was with #BABE2015 at the Arnolfini. The amount of visitors and variety of stalls was outstanding.

I would like to talk a bit about being behind the table and the chance of interacting with the public, also more importantly for them to interact with our books. I think it ties in quite nicely to the talk that we also gave at BABE entitled: 'codex: between one hand and another. A video and talk on the relationship between the reader, the book and the hand.'

 

codex: between one hand and another - video still

We showed a video which we have been working on, where people where asked to close their eyes and talk about how the book feels. The book as an object. A still of which is above. Listening to people talk about their experiences was fascinating, as people filled the lack of sight with memories.

What is important for me as a book artist and sitting behind the table at BABE was watching people interact with the books. Experiencing and learning about them through touch. One of my books has interleaved pages which get turned over one by one. (See the images below). Watching how people approach it, pick it up and how it reveals itself to them though movement was for me really interesting. I know it sounds a bit cliche to say it, but it made me see the work in a new way. It is so easy to get caught up in the making of it, you get lost sometimes in the simplicity of things. I often wonder if people interact with the work in a way that I intended, as often my books rely on movement to convey their meaning. If people move them differently does it still convey the same thing?

'connected space' - George Cullen

The book structure is a familiar thing but when it is presented in a slightly different way, as in my book above, or in another example in some of my colleagues Egidija's work. It is an intriguing new experience that is fun to watch and be a part of. Some of Egidija's work on the table at the weekend (see below) were beautifully fragile and light. They came as unbound, folded loose sheets. The very nature of the super thin printed Japanese papers to float and catch in the wind, transformed these pieces when picked up, into a performance. There was a lightness in them that brought out a poetic romantic quality from the book, which spoke of the femininity of the paper coupled with the strength of the book structure. Something which, only as I watched people read them did I notice. 

'those frivolous readers' -  Egidija Čiricaitė

So if you are a book artists and have never been to a fair, I strongly recommend it. Having a table at BABE was a great way to critique your own work. For me at least it has sparked some thoughts in where I would like my work to progress. We make books to be read, so let people read them!

[George]

digitised scrolls: from the Pond at Deuchar to the Trip to London

Helen Douglas at Whitechapel Art Book fair, 2014

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The Art Book Fair at Whitechapel certainly looked different from the last year: upstairs had a much happier feel, with more tables filling the space and a refreshingly (!) large number of Canadian presses. Downstairs seemed as usual - big publishers and big tables. The cafe, however, was almost gone, with it's space in-between the floors occupied by a Blurb commission Unbinding the Book [why in the cafe?), which ranged between underwhelming and truly exciting. [Anyone knows what Imprimatur is? Is it a real imprint? Or is it merely a metaphysical concept from Blurb marketing department?] On the whole - a few hits and misses later - Whitechapel Art Book Fair was an improvement from the year before. 

  

(My personal favorite at Whitechapel, however, remained Kader Attia's Continuum of Repair: The Light of Jacob’s Ladder: a magnificent bookwork or a piece of installation - the choice is yours. )

One of the highlights of the fair itself was Helen Douglas’ new book, produced as a result of her residency in Mexico, where she traveled under the invitation from Martha Hellion. Surreal and mesmerising continuous sequence of images blends foliage, architecture, fragments of Mexican papercuts and textile into a seamless panorama. A garden of Eden? {seductive}. The Mexican book is not dissimilar in the many ways to the other books that Helen has been producing since 2001, that feature her trademark Thumberlina's perspective to draw in the viewer through the boundary of paper into the enchanted photographic foliaged images beyond. One of those works is her scroll book The Pond at Deauchar, which was conceived and produced as a physical scroll and as a digital scroll.

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Helen Douglas The Pond at Deuchar

There is a well known anecdote about how Helen Douglas wanted to produce the scroll as a digital app to accommodate The Pond at Deuchar.  Apple refused the idea, because the app did not include any more functions than scrolling the scroll (!).
Eventually the app for this artist's book was born and the pond can now be enjoyed online HERE.  It is a beautiful translation from one medium to another, that maintains the original fluidity and depth of immersion. In fact, the experience of the digital scroll excels as submersion into the work due to the level of detail that zoom option provides.


For comparison, below are a few more digitised scrolls by academic institutions. 


1. A library of digitised Asian scroll paintings at the University of Chicago.

Lake Zhiyang and the Eastern Lake 1663

There is a phenomenal incentive from the Center for the Art of East Asia at the University of Chicago - they have now uploaded online a library of digitised  Asian scroll paintings. What a resource!

The Center for the Art of East Asia initiated the Digital Scrolling Paintings Project to support the teaching of classes on East Asian painting. The temporal and spatial qualities of handscroll paintings are lost in photographs of selected sections that are reproduced in books and projected in the classroom.  Although used widely in current art education and the study of these works of art, such reproductions seriously distort the nature of handscrolls by erasing their sequential and participatory viewing process. The display of these paintings in long cases in museums also is not the way in which these paintings were made to be experienced. With the assistance of the Humanities Computer Research Department, the Center developed a prototype for digital scrolling technology as an exciting tool to simulate the viewing experience and to improve understanding of handscroll paintings.

2. Dead Sea Scrolls online by Google and Israel Museum in Jerusalem. 

Dead Sea Scrolls

In 2011 Google and Israel Museum in Jerusalem uploaded the oldest known biblical manuscripts Dead Sea Scrolls online in a high-resolution format, so they become available to all and everyone (with a reliable and fast internet connection, that is).


3. A Ripley scroll from 1477

Ripley Scroll (1477)

This Ripley scroll (1477) has been scanned-in as a very VERY hi-res very long photo and uploaded online: a delightful level of detail, that can otherwise be only enjoyed with a magnifying glass. In simple terms, it is an alchemical manuscript that shows in pictorial cryptograms the production of the philosopher's stone (the elusive ingredient that produces incorruptible gold out of lesser metals; and/or the elixir of life). A very detailed description of the scroll is on BibliOdyssey (among numerous other treasures that can be found there).


4. Georgian scrolling book Trip to London at Princeton University

Artist unknown, Trip to Town (London: William Sams, 1822). 
Box embossed: E.P. Sutton & Company; 
Sangorski & Sutcliff. GA 2005.01039

 And finally, here is this charming Georgian device Trip to London that has been digitised by Princeton University. It is a box with a twelve plate scroll that contains a story about a very unfortunate  honeymoon journey to London by a recently married Mister O'Squat and the Widow Shanks. 
Here is a POST from Booktryst (June, 2013) about the scroll, including this curious snippet of information.

It is not found in Tooley or Abbey, has no copies recorded by OCLC/KVK in institutional holdings worldwide, no copies at auction since ABPC began indexing results in 1923, no copy in the collection of the British Museum, nor is it found in the annals of our sister TV series, Divorce Court. It is an incredibly scarce item, as rare as a Taylor Swift long-term relationship.

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Digital editions raise questions about... editions: what is the relationship between the digital and the material version of the book? Is it an edition in its own right? Prof. Michelle Brown spoke of digital manuscripts in the article she wrote for our Codex: Between This and That book. She suggested that digital editions should be treated as born digital editions in their own right.

The exponential increase in digital imagery available online is encouraging scholars accustomed to working on early texts in the form of printed editions to become aware of the value added and transformative experience of working directly from the primary sources, without having to travel around the world and negotiate access to materials, the rarity and fragility of which may necessitate curatorial restrictions on access to be applied – as in the case of the Beowulf manuscript itself. Manuscript curators initially anticipated that digital surrogates would lessen the demand for consultation of the original; in fact, the stimulation of interest that they provoke can often lead to even more requests to view. Scholarly scepticism is such that there is also felt to be a need to see the original for oneself, in order to test the veracity of digital versions – which indeed have their own life and should be seen as born digital e-manuscripts in their own right.

 Born digital e-scrolls in their own right, then.

[Egidija]

The original version of this post can be found in Egidija's Notebook II.