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On Artists' Books
Why artist’s books? A convenient prism for the exploration of other phenomena related to both books and works of art on paper, including:
Artist’s books include
Images: Exhibition pamphlet; artist’s pamphlet with gouache illustrations; commercial artist’s book with collage on frontispiece; designed binding for commercial artist’s book, incorporating etching plates which Ernst used for ‘frottage’ illustration techniques. It appears that the aesthetic of a work of art must remain static from the point in time it was completed or we believe that we are looking at its ruin. ... We know of the dramatic visual and chemical changes which occur in materials, such as rubber cement, pressure sensitive tape, or magazine tear sheets but as in other systems of degradation it is not necessary to assume that the degradation continues at the same rate until the material has destroyed either itself or its supporting materials. Many materials, including paper, are assumed to go through the largest changes in the first part of their life (the first third, in the case of paper). In other words, if a certain type of paper or tape is known to become discoloured or brittle in 10 years it does not necessarily mean it will perish altogether in 20 years. Images: Picasso livre de luxe with wooden boards, and acid migration damage caused thereby.Artists and Alchemy The work of the German artist, Sigmar Polke, explores the magical possibilities of art-making through alchemical transformations occurring directly on the painting or drawing support. Polke’s paintings, such as The Watch Tower II from 1986, actually change colour in response to changes or fluctuations in relative humidity. The artwork is purple in Pittsburgh and green in Los Angeles. Conservators and Chemistry The first point is that carrying out actual detailed tests and analyses on these book papers has not yielded the trends which are often supposed to exist. Over the 60 year span of these paperback book papers, the strength which does at the present time vary considerably, shows no relation to age. The same is true for pH, but there is limited evidence for some dependence of strength on pH. Alum does appear to have been used in making many of these papers and more was used in the earlier papers. However, the pH is not now related to the aluminium content. It looks as though the source of the variation in pH is neither ageing, nor environmental. An interesting historical trend has emerged, in that more modern papers contain greater quantities of lignin which we associate with the increasing availability of better quality mechanical wood pulps of various kinds. ... As a general conclusion, this work makes clear the difficulty and effort involved in carrying out any rigorous investigations of actual artefacts, even when these can be tested destructively. It is no wonder that modern filter paper made of pure cotton linters is chosen for much experimental work. As long as the aims of such work are consistent with that choice of substrate, all is well, but extrapolation to real papers and the real world must, clearly, always be made with due judgement and circumspection. The Concept of Artistic Re-creation: The Altered Found Object The wind had to go through the book, choose its own problems, turn and tear out the pages ... It amused me to bring the idea of happy and unhappy into readymades, and then the rain, the wind, the pages flying, it was an amusing idea. One of his early uses of the book format was an ‘altered found book,’ a variation on his readymade concept of the teens. For Unhappy Readymade, a geometry textbook was hung on a balcony until it was destroyed by wind and rain. The book itself was one copy of many existing; it became a singular object only through the context of destruction. The Erased de Kooning Drawing is significant in respect of Rauschenberg’s exploration of the act of ‘deleting’ a work in a positive light. It carries his work beyond visible imagery into the vanguard of conceptual art, pointing somewhat provocatively to the direction his art would take in the future. Close examination of the Erased de Kooning reveals discernable traces of crayon, pencil and ink and Rauschenberg’s erasure. Physically and conceptually, the entire piece consists of the erased drawing sheet, mat and (the artist’s) hand lettered label in a gold leaf frame. Historic Re-creation: Age Added Value The conservation treatment of an Anglo Saxon text collected by Matthew Parker in the sixteenth century, demonstrates one example of historic bibliographic intention. This item is a twelfth century manuscript volume, but it is no longer in the original order, and has additions which were inserted into the binding in the sixteenth century. This item was rebound in the 1950s, and by the 1980s had deteriorated to the point of requiring further restoration. The balance in this decision was whether to maintain the sixteenth century order, as arranged by the collector who bequeathed the item to the library, or to return to a ‘more pure’ Anglo Saxon ordering of the text, with the later materials sewn into a separate section. Page neatly summarises the arguments of scholars for both schools: Students working on Anglo-Saxon legal texts were asked what they would prefer. The answer was that the ... quires should be resewn in their correct order. The [later] quires could be added at the end ... This would produce a manuscript as near that of Anglo-Saxon times as the surviving fragments allow, which is what Anglo-Saxonists are likely to want. A disciple of Matthew Parker (such as the then Librarian) would wish to follow the Parkerian reconstruction, even with its errors ... This would retain the Parkerian pagination, and also the manuscripts incipit as recorded in the Parker Register. The student of sixteenth-century antiquarian scholarship would then have something approaching Parker’s version of the codex. Conservation Re-creation One example of the treatment of a scrapbook concerns a collection of engravings, watercolours, ephemera, news clippings, and manuscripts as related to early aeronautica: the William Upcott Scrapbook, of 1783 – 1840, consisting of 455 pages, folio size. The original compiler of the scrapbook was “trained as a librarian and bookdealer,” and the items are described as “all carefully arranged and pasted in place.” Unfortunately, this item, when acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in the late 1950s, was treated to a drastic ‘conservation’ process: Prior to the event, the book was sent to the Government Printing Office where it was cut out of its binding, oversewn, thoroughly glued, and recased in a library buckram binding. It is because of this binding ... that the scrapbook came to the attention of the Book Conservation Laboratory [Smithsonian Institute]. At least the pages were left intact, with the images remaining as originally intended, but this treatment can only be described as embarrassing, especially when it is added “the previous binder had obviously bound the pages out of order, and the volume had since been catalogued at the Smithsonian and a finding aid had been created for the out of order arrangement.” Images: Penrose scrapbook, showing photographs; Penrose scrapbook showing collage; Gascoyne scrapbook showing photographs and included emphemera. Bibliographic integrity is not something one can dismantle and recreate. ... If left undisturbed, a text-block and its binding are of inestimable value to the development of bibliographic studies, while any encroachment by the restorer tends to lessen such value. Nonetheless, certain conservation and restoration activities often have to be carried out to ensure and object’s stability and continued preservation. Another article discusses directly the issue of and “case for taking down albums,” and this article mentions only one item left in the original state, receiving no treatment whatsoever. In no instance was a truly minimal intervention treatment, or a treatment which respects the integrity of a scrapbook as assembled, while conserving structural weaknesses or offering preservation for disparate mixed media components, proposed or enacted. Two drastic scenarios are offered for “conservation options” for a photograph album, which the acidity from the album pages was causing discoloration to the photographs: The first option involved maintaining the album format and interleaving with a non-buffered tissue to reduce the abrasion of the photographs. Repairs were to be carried out to the binding, as required. This option did little to address the brittleness and further deterioration of the pulpboard leaves and was not thought to provide an adequate level of protection for items that could be expected to have moderate to heavy use. The second option, which involved taking the album down, was approved and work is currently in progress. The album was taken down carefully. As the photographs were attached to both sides of the pulpboard leaves, the leaves were split and the photographs were then removed from the split boards. For support, and to repair small tears, the prints were lined with Japanese paper. They are now being hinged to Rising Museum Board mounts and will be housed in two purpose-made “Clam-shell” boxes, along with the binding. Unfortunately, this seems to be the case across conservation literature, and bears a direct relationship to some of the challenges which are present in working within a mixed media item such as some artist’s books, or even with scrapbooks which have been assembled by artists, and thus gain a value through the status of the creator. Image: Bellmer photographic plates in book. As noted by Clarkson, the printed book as artifact comprises both a text-block and a binding. All components of both text-block and binding comprise bibliographic integrity. ... The establishment of text, edition, variant and state all depend upon the preservation of bibliographic integrity. What survives? Image: police approval to travel, Occupied Paris, document enclosed with artist’s book.Social definitions of ‘an artefact’: I remember reading in a history of British Medieval art that much of art history is incomplete because a good deal of the art of various periods was fragile and has been destroyed, either through use, social disruption or the fairly common attitude that old or unfashionable things are of little value and may be used to line books or to paper walls. I concluded from these facts that we construct our ideas about great art from the things that have survived, that physical survival is a matter of luck as much as of any deliberate like rational thought or perceived aesthetic value, and that the physical survival of objects most likely determines aesthetic values. Censorship: Pornography, definition of a ‘valuable’ item What is pornography?
What a culture or a collector views as worthwhile determines what funding is available and what items are collected and conserved. Erotica and pornography in book form are nothing new, but the relation thereof to artist’s books has not been discussed in this paper or in my thesis, for the sake of personal post-Victorian squeamishness. When so much of modern conservation funding is supplied by public funds (i.e. Heritage Lottery Grants), it will be more difficult to justify “spending public funds to preserve that which is morally reprehensible,” even if many of these items were created in the midst of a war or for some intentionally politically subversive angle – such as many of the Main à Plume publications, a fair number of which are directly erotic. Late nineteenth century: Mallarmé: folded and uncut signatures: “virginal”, awaiting penetration of the “paper knife” The explicitly erotic topography of the book: Sumptuous twin curves that meet in a recessed seam. Page turning is a series of gentle, sweeping gestures, like the brush of fingers on a naked back … the behavior of readers has more in common with the play of intimacy than with the public decorum of art viewing or music listening. …[We] read lying down or seated and most of us read at least partially unclothed. We dress up to go out and look at art; undressed, in bed, we read. We seek greater comfort while reading than the furnishings of museums or concert halls will ever grant us. When we read -- the conventional distance between eye and page is around 14 inches -- we often become the lectern that receives the book: chest, arm, lap, or thighs. This proximity is the territory of embrace, of possession; not to be entered without permission. Image: Duchamp Le Surrealisme en 1947 / Prieure de Toucher Notes and References Hognem, Carol and Rowan Watson (1985). From Manet to Hockney: Modern Artists Illustrated Books. London: Victoria and Albert Museum. p. 10. Keynan, Daria (1994) “Issues in collage conservation” in Richmond, Alison, ed. Modern Works, Modern Problems: Papers presented to the Institute of Paper Conservation Conference, 3-5 March 1994, London [Tate Gallery]. London: The Institute of Paper Conservation, p. 76. Volent, Paula (1994) “When artist’s intent is accidental. Artists’ acceptance of and experimentation with changes and transformations of materials” in Richmond, Alison, ed. Modern Works, Modern Problems: Papers presented to the Institute of Paper Conservation Conference, 3-5 March 1994, London [Tate Gallery]. London: The Institute of Paper Conservation, p. 173 Priest, Derek J., Judith Stanley and Arif Karademir (1997) “Characteristics of Twentieth Century Lignin Containing Publication Papers” in Eagan, Jane, ed. IPC Conference Papers London 1997, Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference of The Institute of Paper Conservation, 6-9 April 1997. Worcester: The Institute of Paper Conservation, 1998. p 295. Spector, Buzz (1993). “The Book Alone: Object and Fetishism” in Eaton, Timothy A., Books as Art. Boca Raton, LA: Museum of Art. p. 40. Cabanne, Pierre (1971). Dialogues with Marcel Duchamp. New York: Viking. p. 61. Quoted in Spector, Buzz (1993). “The Book Alone: Object and Fetishism” in Eaton, Timothy A., Books as Art. Boca Raton, LA: Museum of Art. p. 40. Swift, Amanda (1994) “Robert Rauschenberg: the neo-Dada junk aesthetic” in in Richmond, Alison, ed. Modern Works, Modern Problems: Papers presented to the Institute of Paper Conservation Conference, 3-5 March 1994, London [Tate Gallery]. London: The Institute of Paper Conservation, p. 167. Page, R. I. (1994) “The Conservator and the Scholar” in Hadgraft, Nicholas and Katherine Swift, eds. Conservation and Preservation in Small Libraries. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, p. 15-19. Page, R. I. (1994) “The Conservator and the Scholar” in Hadgraft, Nicholas and Katherine Swift, eds. Conservation and Preservation in Small Libraries. Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, p. 16 Ellis, Janice Stagnitto (1997). “Aloft in a balloon: Treatment of a scrapbook of early aeronautica collected by William Upcott, 1783 – 1840,” in The Book and Paper Group Annual, volume 16, p. 9-13. Ellis, Janice Stagnitto (1997). “Aloft in a balloon: Treatment of a scrapbook of early aeronautica collected by William Upcott, 1783 – 1840,” in The Book and Paper Group Annual, volume 16, p. 10. Clarkson, Christopher (1987). “Conservation Priorities: A Library Conservator’s Point of View” in Petherbridge, Guy, ed. Conservation of Library and Archive Materials and the Graphic Arts. London: Butterworths for the Society of Archivists and the Institute of Paper Conservation, p. 236. Humphrey, Vicky (1992). “Separation need not be painful: the case for taking down albums” in Fairbrass, Sheila, ed. Conference Papers Manchester 1992, Papers presented to the third international Institute of Paper Conservation Conference at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 1-4 April 1992. Worcester: The Institute of Paper Conservation, 1992, p. 42-47. Humphrey, Vicky (1992). “Separation need not be painful: the case for taking down albums” in Fairbrass, Sheila, ed. Conference Papers Manchester 1992, Papers presented to the third international Institute of Paper Conservation Conference at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 1-4 April 1992. Worcester: The Institute of Paper Conservation, 1992, p. 44. Banks, Joyce, in Burgess, Helen D., et al. (1994) “Panel discussion: the ethics of disbinding book-related artifacts.” in Conservation of historic and artistic works on paper: proceedings of a conference, Ottawa, Canada, October 3 to 7, 1988. Canadian Conservation Institute, p. 273. Curnoe, Greg in Maheux, Anne, et al(1994) “Panel Discussion: The Conflict Between Conservation Treatments and the Preservation of Artists Materials and Intent” in Conservation of historic and artistic works on paper: proceedings of a conference, Ottawa, Canada, October 3 to 7, 1988. Canadian Conservation Institute, p. 292. Kozub, Beate “The Preservation of Historical Objects Made of Paper in Auschwitz Birkenau State Museum” in Daniels, Vincent, et al, eds, Works of Art on Paper, Books, Documents, and Photographs. International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (IIC) Contributions to the Baltimore Congress 2-6 September 2002. London: The International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. p. 118-121 Cowling, Elizabeth (1997). Surrealism and After: the Gabrielle Keiller Collection. Edinburgh: Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. p. 147 Caws, Mary Ann, ed. (1982) Stéphane Mallarmé: Selected Poetry and Prose. New York. p. 83. in Spector, Buzz (1993). “The Book Alone: Object and Fetishism” in Eaton, Timothy A., Books as Art. Boca Raton, LA: Museum of Art. p. 38. Spector, Buzz (1993). “The Book Alone: Object and Fetishism” in Eaton, Timothy A., Books as Art. Boca Raton, LA: Museum of Art. p. 38. |
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