Artists' Books

The artists’ book is an interesting conundrum for the art librarian, because there seems to be little agreement on the subject of what constitutes an artists books, and how they should be treated. Several sources identify an artist book as being any print resource published by an artist, but this seems far too broad for any kind of real classification. Other sources called for distinction between an artists’ book, which functions along the same lines as a zine, and Book Arts. In his article, Tony White discusses the evolution of the artists’ book from the new experimental art scene of the 60’s as a way to make what was considered democratic art, free from the corporate gallery scene. In this instance, an artists’ book from the 60’s has much more in common with the zine today, a (somewhat) recent phenomenon of cheaply and locally published pamphlets, often with political or social messages, as well as art. Defining an artists' book as such in a modern art library setting actually involves some subjectivity on the part of the information professional. Many libraries make distinctions in their special collections between Artists’ books, rare books, and zines, all of which have more in common than not, but these distinctions make the difference in the level of description afforded each type of resource.

            Artists’ books are important for the museum or art librarian because they are sometimes unique, precious objects that explore the fundamental nature of the book as an object. Collecting Artists’ books in libraries instead of leaving them to museums and galleries is a way to preserve the original intention of the artists’ book, which requires physical interaction to be read fully.

            In her article, Annie Herlocker states that results of a survey of artists’ book collections report moderate to heavy usage of the collection, mostly for the purpose of teaching through librarian or teacher-led discussions. This provides a way for the library to guide a user through the collection and to ensure that it is accessible without endangering preservation. Smaller art libraries with artists’ books collections require a patron to set up a meeting with the librarian to view a selection of predetermined materials. This is the case at the SMFA library, whose website is linked below, where the head librarian or any of the small staff will walk a patron through their inquiry and then pull artists’ books that fit their needs. From my short time their I have gathered that this is a common occurrence at the SMFA library, as teachers ask for artists’ books relating to a particular assignment, students ask to help further research their own art, and outside patrons ask for a myriad of reasons.

            One of the major challenges of having an artists’ book collection is the difficulty of cataloging it so that it is accessible. Artists’ books often defy traditional cataloging methods and require much more documentation from artists, sellers, and the cataloger. Ann and Andrew Meyers discuss this in depth in their article, and provide an example of a short catalog record as might be seen with the average book, and a fuller, more descriptive record with greater subject access that actually describes the book to a more satisfying end. The difficulty with this is that it takes a lot of time, and that 500 field descriptions are open to the interpretation of the cataloger’s bias. The other major challenge with artists’ books is preservation, because many are fragile or created with materials not made to last the test of time. Because of this, the librarian must decide if the artists’ book should be treated more like an art object and stored safely away from the public, or should it be handled like a book and made available. This dilemma illustrates the duality if the Artists’ book as both an art object and published material.

            Today with new technology, there has also been development of the digital artists’ book, which is discussed in Alexander Mouton’s article. Switching to a born digital object brings up a whole new set of classification issues that can make it even harder to pin down exactly what an artists’ book is, and how it fits into the art library.

Works Cited

Herlocker, Annie. “Shelving Methods and Questions of Storage and Access in Artists’ Book Collections.” Art Documentation, 31, no. 1 (2012): 67-76.

Meyers, An K.D. and William Andrew Meyers. “Opening Artists’ Books to the User: An Example with Potential Approaches.” RBM (2014): 56-67.

White, Tony. “The (r)evolutionary artist book.” Intellect Ltd., 3 no. 2 (2013): 163-183.

Farman, Nola. “Artists’ books: managing the unmanageable.” Library Management, 29 no. 4/5 (2008): 319-326.

Chemero, Andrea. “How Libraries Collect and Handle Artists' Books.” Art Documentation, 19, no. 1 (2000): 22-25.

Mouton, Alexander. “What is a Digital Artist Book Anyway?” Journal of Artists Books, 33 (2013): 34-37.

Bibliography of resources

Harvard Research Guide to Artists’ Books: http://guides.library.harvard.edu/c.php?g=310813&p=2072918

MassArt Libguide to the Artists’ Book collection: http://massart.libguides.com/artistsbooks?hs=a

And a gallery of their Artists’ books: http://blogs.massart.edu/artistsbooks/

Smithsonian Artists Books: http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=smithsonian+libraries+artists+books&fq=object_type:%22Artists%27+books%22

A blog dedicated to book arts: http://fuckyeahbookarts.tumblr.com/page/2

The libguide to the Artists Book collection at the SMFA: http://library.smfa.edu/c.php?g=178328&p=1171965