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

Gli Italiani - The Italians
Carrie Galbraith
“The book is a place where you can wait for
somebody, a place in which to search for
something that is lost, or perceived lost, and to
find it again, in your hands, through the
pages.” - Roberta Bridda
Class in Libro d’Artista Scuola Internazionale di Grafica,
Venice, 2002
Italy has a long tradition of artists making
books, from illuminated manuscripts to
innovative early printers, from the Futurists to
artists and designers such as Bruno Munari in
the 60s and 70s. Today there are a number of
small independent presses and artists working
in the book form in Italy such as Corraini in
Mantua and Alberto Casiraghy and his Edizioni
Pulcino Elefante. In this article, I have chosen to
focus on six artists who, unlike the monk
labouring a lifetime in the scriptorium, vary
greatly in their disciplines and age. They are
architects, designers, anthropologists, social
workers and teachers yet they share the
common bond of the love of the book. They
have all studied at the Scuola Internazionale
di Grafica in Venice, whose artistic director,
Matilde Dolcetti, has been a great influence
and supporter of their explorations.
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In interviewing the artists, I focused on the
individuals approach to the process, specifically
asking them their interpretation of the artist’s
book. The artists have responded candidly to
my questions, touching on the essence of their
ideas and aesthetic sensitivities as well as their
processes.
All of the artists have seen many international
exhibitions of artists’ books. They have found a
“spirit of common intentions” in the books,
even if the language and techniques have been
different. To quote Lia Malfermoni, “each book
is original, different and unique. The country
of creation is the inner homeland, inside the
artist.”
Roberta Bridda (see opposite) studied at the
University of Architecture in Venice and wrote
her dissertation on artists’ books, placing them
in the same structural territory as buildings. In
1997 she saw an exhibition of books and began
considering the possibilities of the medium,
describing the artists’ book as “an open shape,
a home, a body and a journey.” Roberta has
said that the book “creates a need to think
about language, a place where codes mix
together, where the text can be an image and
the image can also be text. With books, the
idea is to stay awake in front of reality and
dreams, living one’s multiple lives.”
Loretta Cappanera
Ali di Carta (1)
23 x 18cms,
cut paper and
collage,
one-of-a-kind, 1994
In 1993, while searching for a way to express
her desire to communicate and give testimony
to the inner journey, Loretta Cappanera began
working with artists’ books. She does not
distinguish between “art” and “book,” finding
the book a valid vehicle by itself. For Loretta,
the book is a witness to the personal vision
quest and is full of movement. She perceives
the materials used in the creation of the book
as leading to a continuous exploration of the
form.