Artist's Book Yearbook 2003-2005 - Book Arts - University of the ...

For many Booklyn artists the book is a cultural
or material reference point explored in various
related art media. Booklyn supports work in all
media (such as performance, installation,
photography, printmaking, video, digital
imaging and internet projects) if it expands or
is concerned with aesthetics, form, literature,
reading, writing and other subject matters
relevant to book art and history.
5. Down with anti-intellectualism. Booklyn is
not about modernism or material fetishism.
Unlike much of the moribund book arts
scholarship of the last century Booklyn is not
fixated on reducing artists’ practice into clever
categories. I’m going out on a limb here
because there is no solid theoretical consensus
within Booklyn but there is a distinct postmodern
tendency for Booklynites to think
about the artist made book as a personal
antidote to mass spectacle. To hope that the
artist’s book can be an intimate and tactile
alternative to the vaporous (and too often
virtue-less) virtual (un)reality of consumer
culture. Booklyn imagines that the book
provides the individual with a combination of
aromatic, cinematic, graphic, literary, and
theatrical perceptions that cohere in an
emotional, intellectual, sensual, and visual
experience which then catalyses a strange mix
of affective and cognitive processes in the
readers brain! In this (con)fusion of neurological
activities, where the semiotic codes of written
language intermingle with the abstract perceptions
of imagery, sound and touch exists the
potential for the most vivacious aesthetic experience
(thank you Elaine Scarry, Reading by the
Book, Farrar, Strauss, Girard, 1998).
6. It’s the content stupid! (Sorry ’bout that.)
Booklyn has a rigorous editorial practice in
regards to literary form and content and
subject matter in general. Booklyn depends on
the input of artists, editors, musicians,
photographers, and poets and other writers.
Get Your War On
David Rees, 2002
edition of 1,000
visit: www.mnftiu.cc
42
We see content and form as inseparable.
A great book must have good, mature writing of
literary value and subject matter that is either
urgent to our times or timeless in its urgency.
7. Let’s be honest. Though Booklyn is not a
political organisation either legally or culturally.
With just a few (and welcome) exceptions the
political ideology of the associated artists spans
the leftist rainbow from neo-liberal to
anarchistic (and I mean anarchy in a good
way). This is not as much of a political goal as it
is curatorial prerogative. [Secret note for the
fine art press people: Booklyn is the place you
go when the content of your work has become
too radical for your (former) dealers and
subscribers!] In term of non-fiction Booklyn
curators are primarily interested in books about
feminist (and feminine) literature, history,
political and social critique, social science and
poetry. In terms of fiction the curatorial
prerogative focuses on personal narratives
(i.e. ’zine diaries) and poetry. Of course
Booklyn is very interested in writing and art
that dismantles the whole fiction / non-fiction
dichotomy. As a small independent publisher
we advocate for freedom of expression and
freedom of the press and we are committed to
supporting dissenting, provocative and
controversial literature.
In terms of realpolitik Booklyn does have
specific social goals. We are committed to
expand the diversity of our board, staff,
associates and audience in terms of race, class,
ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation. We
embrace the global movement for civil, human
and environmental rights and we support art
and literature that benefits that movement. For
example, we are now donating the net proceeds
from the sale of artist’s proofs from David Rees’
infamous Get Your War On book to the Adopt
- A - Minefield programme of the United
Nations. We look forward to expanding our
participation in these types of projects.