History and Future, the artist's photo-book

8/9/2019 History and Future, the artist's photo-book

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History and

Future:

The Artist’s

Photo-Book

J.J.R. de Smalen

University of Amsterdam

Art / Writing

mw. prof. dr. C.M.K.E. Lerm-Hayes

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“When I first did the book on gasoline stations,

people would look at it and say, “Are you kidding or

what? Why are you doing this?” In a sense, that’s

what I was after: I was after the head-scratching.”

Ed Ruscha

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It is the year 1963, the release of the first

artist’s book published by ed ruscha is a fact. (fig 1

1) It is the start of a new episode in the history of

art, that of the artist’s book. Twentysix gasoline

stations is an artwork in the form of an book. It

differs from former photobooks because the book with

the photographs is the artwork itself. The book has

become a new medium to discover. The book is used as

a medium to show photographs. In the case of ed

ruscha it contains twentysix gasoline stations. About

this work Johanna drucker wrote:

“Ruscha's books combined the literalness of

early California pop art with a flat-footed

photographic aesthetic informed by minimalist

notions of repetitive sequence and seriality.

[...] Thirty years later, with a quarter of a century of mainstream artworld activity between,

the aspect of shock-effect and humor has

diminished somewhat. But in 1963 this work read

against the photographic landscape of highly

aestheticized image-making.”2

Drucker makes clear that the shock-effect of his work

is much bigger than it is nowadays. The medium is now

1 O'hagan, Sean. "Self-publish or Be Damned: Why Photographers Are

Going It Alone." Thegardian.com. The Gardian, 4 June 2010. Web. 17

Nov. 2014. 2 Drucker, Johanna. The Century of Artists' Books. New York City:

Granary, 1995. 76. Print.

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Fig 1: Ruscha, Edward. Twentysix Gasoline Stations.

1963. paper binded to a Book. 7 x 5 1/2 inch.

Fig 2: Ruscha, Edward. Some Los Angeles Apartments.

1965. paper binded to a book. 7 x 5 1/2 inch.

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evolved in a public accepted medium in which artist’s

can chose to transfer their artistic idea.

In a world full of uncertainties things have to

be defined. In the case of this essay it is important

to understand definition of an artist’s book. Philip

Pacey does the same in his essay ‘Artists’ Books and

Book Art’. He defines an artist’s book as following:

“‘Artists’ Books’ are understood to be books or

booklets produced by the artist using mass

production methods and in (theoretically)

unlimited numbers, in which the artist documents

or realizes art ideas or artworks.

Autobiography, letters or collections of

writings - as well as the ‘art book’ format -

are disregarded insofar as they perpetuate

conventional literary forms.”

3

In this essay, I will use this definition in order to

cause no uncertainties on the definition of an

artist’s book, and by that an demarcated multiple

which is an artist’s book.

The first part of this essay will give a brief

insight in the history of the artist’s book in

general. This brief history will highlight the major

changes in the field of the artist’s book and

publication. This brief history will stop at the

3 Pacey, Philip. "Artists' Books and Book Art." 1977. Booktrek:

Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot.

Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 47. Print.

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digital era and from than on the essay will become

more art critical in a way that it will question the

new technologies in the field of the artist’s

photo-book and publications. It will describe my

idea of the use of the new digital mediums in the

field of the artist’s publication. It will determine

the limitations of the digital medium and by that

questioning the future of the artist’s publications

in a digital form.

In many writings the 1960s is seen as a starting

point for the new medium of the artist’s book. The

early versions of the artist’s book, around the 1960s

were found in the field of the conceptual and minimal

artists. They used the format of the book as an

extension of their more traditional gallery works. 4

The work twentysix gasoline station can bee seen in

the light of this new emerging medium. Another example is the artist’s book by ed ruscha some los

angeles apartments which can be seen in the same

tendency as twentysix gasoline stations. (fig 2) It

is a simple format, linked to his previous work. It

contains a simple cover and simple layouts of the

pages that contain photographs. But this concept of

artists book will change within ten years.

In the 1970s, institutions, often subsided by

the federal state or local grants, gave artists the

opportunity to publish their own democratic

4 White, Tony. "From Democratic Multiple to Artist Publishing:."

Art Documentation: Journal of the Art Libraries Society of North

America 31.1 (2012): 45. Web.

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multiples. An example of an institution that made it 5

possible for artist to publish and distribute their

work is printed matter in New York City. Printed

Matter was founded in 1976 by both Lucy Lippard and

Sol LeWitt. Sol was already active in the book 6

making and Lucy was fascinated by the genre, the

corporation was vast. They made it able for artists 7

to sell and publish their books in a place which was

oriented on the artist point of view. It was also 8

the first step in the building of an archival

collection of artist’s books. Artists were asked to

donate three copies of their work, one for a handling

collection, one for the archival collection and one

to sent to exhibitions. This second generation of 9

self publishing artist differ from the first movement

of the 1960. They were more self conscious by what

they are doing. The artist knew he was master of the final product and self publishing made it a practise

which was separated from the critics, art historian

and other mediators what made the final form of the

democratic multiple divers and were more creative

than the artist’s books of the 1960s. Although the 10

1960s conceptual underpinnings had a big influence on

many artist during the 1970s and was a catalizator

5 White 47.6 Philpot, Clive. "From N.E. Things Co. to Anything Goes?."

Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive

Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 18. Print. 7 Philpot 19.8 Philpot 19.9 Philpot 19-20.10 White 46-47.

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for the use of the book medium. For example,

Downsbrough produced 18 booklets in the 1970; Sol

LeWitt published more than 20 multiples; Richard long

produced 14 artist’s books and Lawrence Weiner

produced 25 booklets. This selection of famous 11

artists illustrate the popularity of the book medium

in the 1970s. This popularity had to survive a major

decrease caused by the anti art ethos of Reagan in

the 1980s, who made major cuts on artists fundings

which evolved in a reducement of self publishing

artists.12

This reducement was luckily not strong enough as

the increment caused by the upcoming computer

technology of the mid 1980s which gave artists the

opportunity to self design and publish their books

with the help of user friendly software what evolved

in a big increase of artist publishing artist’s books. The new format of the artist book is no 13

longer strictly a democratic multiple but more an

artist publishing because it was no longer seen in

the cultural context of the beginning of the concept.

The use of computers opened a new chapter in the 14

history of the artist’s books, multiples and

publications. The world wide web will have a major

11 Philpot, Clive. "twentysix gasoline stations that shook the

world." 1993. Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books

(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 159.

Print. 12 White 50.

13 White 51.14 White 52.

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influence on artist publications and will open the

doors to the digital era.

Now the doors are opened to the time we are in

living in now, the digital era, the opportunities for

the self publishing artists are almost unlimited. The

world wide web made the world smaller. Online

printing shops are easy to access by the use of the

internet, this made it easier and cheaper to publish

a artist publication. Not only the printing of the

book is made easier, the distribution can be done

online as well as the promotion. These technologies

opened the world for artist who want to publish their

own work. The new emerging technologies play a key

role in the field of the artist’s book because the

potential of dissemination is vast. These new 15

technologies have a major influence on the concept of

the artist book. But this amalgamation of the artist book medium within the online sphere is partly

against the conceptual underpinnings as a reaction

against mass production and commercialisation because

the book is no shared in specific shops and fairs

which makes it less collectible. These technologies 16

make the artists book concept less a democratic

multiple and less an artist’s book as seen in the

1960s concept.

15 Verity, Adam. "Print/Screen: Current and Future Dissemination of

the Self-Published Artist’s Book." Photography and the Artist's

Book. Ed. Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.

Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. 92. Print.16 Verity 94.

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The last tendency in the world of artists publication

is that of the publication in a digital form. There

are a variety of digital mediums on which books and

publications can be shown. We all know the new

mediums as ipads, tablets and ereaders. These new

technologies seemed to open a new world for the self

publishing artists. As they before were bound to a

paper form of publishing they now are able to publish

digital content. By letting loose the concept of

publishing in paper form the artist is no longer

attached to medium specific limitations.

But there are some major downsides of making

artist’s publication in a digital format. First,

within the online sphere there is no quality

control. The internet is accessible for almost 17

everyone and by that, everyone is able to put on the

internet whatever he or she wants. The second part of the discussion on online publications is about

archiving. Many artist’s online publications are

getting lost because the libraries, museums and

collectors are not having the same interest in

archiving online publications as they have in

archiving paper books. Or they don’t know yet how 18

to archive these digital publications. This lack of 19

archivability is a major subject for discussion

nowadays. Institutions, as “The Internet archive” are

17 Verity 96.

18 Verity 98.

19 This was mentioned after my presentation on this essay by

Bettina Brach, the curator of the Weserburg Museum .

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trying to archive as much content on the internet as

possible because, otherwise all the content on the

internet will become lost in its own black hole of

information. They compare the lost of the internet

with the burned down library of Alexandria:

The Library of Alexandria - an ancient center of

learning containing a copy of every book in the

world - was eventually burned to the ground.

[...] Without cultural artifacts, civilization

has no memory and no mechanism to learn from its

successes and failures. And paradoxically, with

the explosion of the Internet, we live in what

Danny Hillis has referred to as our "digital

dark age."20

In the genre of the artist’s books and publications the paper book form will not stopped to be produced

and are still popular in the digital era nowadays. In

the following conversation Christophe Cherix is

questioning if this new popularity of artist’s books

is due to a form of nostalgia for a lost era or due

to the fact that there is still a future for books in

the computer age. Clive Phillpot is answering this 21

as following: “I would simply say that if books,

20 "Read More." About the Internet Archive. Internet Archive, 31

Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015. .21 Phillpot, Clive, Lionel Bovier, and Christophe Cherix. "A

Conversation between Clive Phillpot, Lionel Bovier and Christophe

Cherix." Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010).

Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. 7. Print.

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booklets pamphlets have a future, then artists will

continue to have a use for these structures.” But 22

he is not very positive about the future of books:

“there are countless examples of lurid fetishistic

growths on the body bibliographic, while unassuming

booklets [...] are completely overlooked.” Cherix 23

has his own idea of the future of artist’s books in

relation to the new evolution in production,

distribution and reception: “The result is a much

more diverse fields in which artists and publishers

can suddenly cross boundaries [...] With this [...]

prints and books remain an essential part of making

art today”.24

This discussion on books in paper form versus

digital publications is one of many on the subject of

digital vs analogue. Nowadays a self publishing

artist can make the choice to publish its photographs in book form or in the digital sphere. Experience

wise there is a big difference between the two. An

book is close to the photograph. It is made of paper

and contains a flat surface. If we compare it to a

digital form we can only say it is something fictive,

it is no real matter. In my opinion the technologies

do more harm than good to the genre of the artist

book because it is coming loose from the medium

specificities of the printed version in the same way

22 Phillpot 7.

23 Phillpot 7.

24 Phillpot 9.

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as photography did after the introduction of the

digital camera.

Relevant are the medium specificities of the

book medium. The book medium can be used as a

narrative device. After each page one turns over a

new part of the book gets revealed. This sequencing

is used by many photographic artist. The book is used

to relate pictures that were taken at different

places and at different times. An example of this 25

kind of narrativity is the artist’s book Cover to

Cover by Michael which is a photographic narrative

which relating several events in the day of its main

character, the author Michael Snow. (fig 3) Cover 26

to Cover is an artist’s book which is focussing on

the mechanisms specific to the medium of the book

more than to it’s content, it made use as a book as

narrative device: the pictures used in cover to cover form a coherent whole, the surrounding pictures can

intervene the meaning of individual pictures what

makes theme orientate the reading of them and make

them seen as an passage of time and as an continuum

due to his lack of an climax and is assemblage from

its begin to end A digital medium would not have 27

the same experience as reading a book in paper form,

25 Neudörfl, Elisabeth. "Conseptual Documentary Photography in the

Artist’s Book as a Tool of Analysis." Photography and the Artist's

Book. Ed. Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.

Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. 92. Print. 26 O'Rourke, Karen. "The Artist’s Book and Photography: The Example

of Michael Snow’s “Cover to Cover”." Revue Française D'études

Américaines 8 (1979): 217. J-store. Web. 25 Nov. 2014. 27 O'Rourke 221.

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Snow, Michael. Cover to Cover. 1975. paper

binded to a Book. 7.1 x 0.6 x 9.1 inches.

Evans, Walker. American photographs. 1938. paper

binded to a book. 0.8 x 9.2 x 8 inches.

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nobody would disagree with this. Axperience wise

there are some interfacial features on the digital

mediums that brings the experience close to reading a

book but scrolling between the pages or swiping over

the screen is not the same as turning a page and see

what the next page will reveal. Maybe this is due to

the fact that all this technology is still in his

childhood?

Another medium specific feature of an book is

when you open a book there are always two pages

visible. This two page view of an book can be used by

artist to show differing or even opposing subject

matter to add meaning to the photograph on both the

opposing pages, a concept that can be seen in Walker

Evans photobook American photographs. The two page 28

feature many digital mediums lack because the average

screens of ereaders and other devices as tablets are just too small for this so they just show one page

that is readable.29

Not only the medium specificities of the book

are important to the perception of an photo-book,

also the medium specificities of an photograph are

important to determine the efficiency of the digital

medium. In an analysis of the essential medium

specificities of an photograph we can determine two

things. As the word photograph says, it is a drawing

28 Neudörfl, Elisabeth 195.

29 Maybe in the future the technologies will become more suffician

in a way they will be able to copy the medium specifics of a book.

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with light. The photograph is an fixed reproduction 30

of light on a flat surface. The lens of the camera

transfers the light of an object to the light

sensitive part, the film. It makes a two dimensional

representation of the photographed object. Another

essential specificity is that it can be reproduced by

an mechanical technique. The representation of light

on the film can be reproduced by the use of

mechanical techniques. If we compare this to a

photograph shown on a digital screen. A photograph is

then just a random representation on a flat surface.

The representation is not fixed as it is on the paper

form and to reproduce it one can just copy paste it

and it is reproduced. My point is here, when an

artist is publishing his artists photographic

publication in a digital form he or she is

undermining the medium specificity of an photograph as it was intend to be. The experience is no longer

fixed and it loses its value because it is becoming

something immaterial.

In the digital era artist are confronting the

question of publishing in the digital sphere or in

the traditional codex format of a book. In the field

of photography there are major differences in the

perception of both mediums. The codex format is

something existing in the real and the digital format

is something fictitious, we can’t touch it and it is

only a coded version of something that was once real.

30 Photo means light, Graph means drawing.

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To ratify this theory the semiotics of pierce’s have

to be understood. In Peirce's semiotic theory there

is the basic tripartite of sign types: icon, index

and symbol. For those who are not familiar with 31

this theory here is an short summary out of Hatt and

Klonk’s Art history a critical introduction to its

methods:

“The icon is a sign that works by resemblance;

that is, a sign that is not so much decoded as

understood to refer to an object in the world.

[...] The index is a sign which does not

resemble the object, but provides evidence of

its existence or presence. [...] The symbol

[...] is a mark or word or image whose meaning

is conventional.”32

If we apply this theory to a photograph of an object,

the photograph becomes both iconic, as it is an

resemblance of the photographed object, and it is

indexical, it is a trace of the object that is or has

been in the real world. This is the indexical 33

relation between the object and the real world, in

the same way that smoke can be an indexical proof for

fire. The indexical relation between the object, the

real, and the icon, the print, makes a photography

31 Hatt, Michael, and Charlotte Klonk. Art History: A Critical

Introduction to Its Methods. Manchester: Manchester UP, 2006. 209.

Print.32 Hatt 209.

33 Hatt 210.

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something different than other figurative arts. This

indexical relation is not only particular linked to

the making process of an photograph but also to its

function in society. When we see a picture in the

newspaper we all assume that the photograph is real,

the photograph is the indexical proof of the event

and by that a reliable representation.34

In the age of mechanical reproduction a

photograph has been seen as an reliable

representation of something in the real, it is an

indexical proof of an object and by that a reliable

presentation. But when this photograph is made by an

digital camera it becomes coded and by that an

unreliable presentation because digital image is by

definition manipulated. The same happens with the 35

use of a digital medium as a screen. By coding the

digital image it becomes unreliable. The inherent manipulativity is the essence of this unreliability.

When an photograph loses its indexical proof by

representing it on a digital screen, it can no longer

seen as an photograph because a photograph

distinguishes itself from the figurative arts by its

indexicality which it loses when it is digital

represented. By cause of this the digital

reproduction is no longer loyal to the medium

specificity of the photograph. This unloyalty to the

34 Coumans, Anke. "Untitled Document." Visuele Communicatie of Hoe

Wij Beelden Interpreteren. Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten Utrecht,

n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

35 Ibidem

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medium specifics of an photograph makes an digital

screen an insufficient medium for an artist to

publish or represent its photographs in.

After the release of the first artist’s book

published by ed ruscha in 1963 many things have

changed the concept of the 1960s. The second

generation in the 1970s were more self conscious by

what they are doing and self publishing made it a

practise which was separated from the critics, art

historian and other mediators what made the final

form of the artist’s book what now has become the

democratic multiple. The upcoming computer technology

of the mid 1980s gave artists the opportunity to self

design and publish their books with the help of user

friendly software but by this the artist book is no

longer strictly a democratic multiple but more an

artist publishing because it was no longer seen in the cultural context of the beginning of the concept.

This shift of the concept was continuing under the

influence of new technologies as the world wide web

that made it easier for artists to promote, print and

distribute their books but this made the artist’s

book less collectible.

The last tendency in the world of artists

publication is that of the publication in a digital

form. There are a variety of digital mediums on which

books and publications can be shown. By letting loose

the concept of publishing in paper form the artist is

no longer attached to medium specific limitations.

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But there are major downsides on publications in a

digital format: There is no quality control and the

publications are hard to archive. But as the

conversation between Philpot and Cherix showed there

is a future of the artist’s book. Philpot is seeing

an decrease in popularity in unassuming booklets in

general, thus also in artist’s books. But Cherix is

seeing a more diverse field due to new technologies.

Nowadays a self publishing artist can make the

choice to publish its photographs in book form or in

the digital sphere. Experience wise there is a big

difference between the two. As an art historian I see

the use of the digital technologies as a new medium

as an attack on both the medium specificity as the

conceptual underpinnings of the artist’s publication.

The medium specific aspect of a book as narrativity

is yet not possible on a digital medium as an ipad or other tablets. Also the two page view which can be

used for opposing subject matter is not suitable for

digital devices nowadays. By publishing in a digital

form the artist undermining the medium specificity of

an photograph as it was intend to be. The experience

is no longer fixed and it loses its value because it

is becoming something immaterial. It becomes

something coded which made it less reliable because

the photograph loses its indexical proof by

representing it on a digital screen, an attack on its

own medium specificity. Maybe I am just some analogue

purist who is searching for nostalgia but this

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unloyalty to the medium specifics of an photograph,

and the limitation of the new technologies on digital

mediums made an digital medium an insufficient medium

for an artist publish their photo-books in. Even when

they could make some kind of digital book which would

give the same experience as an paper form book the

photographs distinguishes itself from the figurative

arts by its indexicality which it loses when it is

digital represented.

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Bibliography

Coumans, Anke. "Untitled Document." Visuele

Communicatie of Hoe Wij Beelden Interpreteren.

Hogeschool Voor De Kunsten Utrecht, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015.

Drucker, Johanna. The Century of Artists' Books. New

York City: Granary, 1995. Print.

Hatt, Michael, and Charlotte Klonk. Art History: A

Critical Introduction to Its Methods. Manchester:

Manchester UP, 2006. Print.

Neudörfl, Elisabeth. "Conseptual Documentary

Photography in the Artist’s Book as a Tool of

Analysis." Photography and the Artist's Book. Ed.

Theresa Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller.

Edinburgh: MuseumsEtc, 2012. Print.

O'hagan, Sean. "Self-publish or Be Damned: Why Photographers Are Going It Alone." Thegardian.com.

The Gardian, 4 June 2010. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.

O'Rourke, Karen. "The Artist’s Book and Photography:

The Example of Michael Snow’s “Cover to Cover”."

Revue Française D'études Américaines 8 (1979).

J-store. Web. 25 Nov. 2014.

Pacey, Philip. "Artists' Books and Book Art." 1977.

Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books

(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier,

2013. Print.

Phillpot, Clive, Lionel Bovier, and Christophe

Cherix. "A Conversation between Clive Phillpot,

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Lionel Bovier and Christophe Cherix." Booktrek:

Selected Essays on Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed.

Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. Print

Philpot, Clive. "From N.E. Things Co. to Anything

Goes?." Booktrek: Selected Essays on Artists' Books

(1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot. Zurich: JRP/Ringier,

2013. Print.

Philpot, Clive. "twentysix gasoline stations that

shook the world." 1993. Booktrek: Selected Essays on

Artists' Books (1972-2010). Ed. Clive Phillpot.

Zurich: JRP/Ringier, 2013. Print.

"Read More." About the Internet Archive. Internet

Archive, 31 Dec. 2014. Web. 22 Jan. 2015.

.

Verity, Adam. "Print/Screen: Current and Future

Dissemination of the Self-Published Artist’s Book."

Photography and the Artist's Book. Ed. Theresa

Wilkie, Jonathan Carson, and Rosie Miller. Edinburgh:

MuseumsEtc, 2012. Print.

White, Tony. "From Democratic Multiple to Artist

Publishing:." Art Documentation: Journal of the Art

Libraries Society of North America 31.1 (2012): 45.

Web.

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Documents

History and Future, the artist's photo-book