Books you cannot read
Crescendo25 Artist Book Award brings together works by leading and emerging artist book makers from across Australia
For artist and curator Judy Bourke, every day feels like Christmas at the moment as she opens the mail to unpack the entries for Crescendo25, a two-week exhibition of artists’ books opening at the Clifton School of Arts at 6pm on Friday, November 14. They are coming in from all corners of the country, in packages large and small, from 61 participants, selected by Judy with co-curators Liz Jeneid, Kathryn Orton and Lucia Parella.
Crescendo25 follows on from Prelude, the highly successful show of artist books at the CSA held two years ago, which drew a strongly enthusiastic response from the public, many of whom were encountering artist books for the first time. This year, a prize of $5000 will be awarded to the winning work by acclaimed book artist Dianne Fogwell. There will also be a $1000 prize for the best work by a local artist.
“The definition of an artist’s book is an object that uses the book as a starting point, but is open to a wide variety of interpretations in a wide variety of media including textiles, wood, and sometimes includes recycled or organic materials,” says Liz, who has been teaching workshops about artist’s books for many years at her studio on Mount Kembla. “Judy Barrass, has made her entry, called Memory, out of the motherboard of a discarded computer.”
“We trawled wide networks for submissions,” Judy Bourke says, “and have included works by established and emerging artists, but we don’t know their age or cultural background. Some use handmade paper, some include feathers, many artists have invented their own ways of gluing and folding the works so it takes extreme care to unpack and catalogue each one.”
“The art form has no rules,” says Liz, “it has created its own vocabulary, and is very broad and inclusive, so some works are quite private and personal while others are political, often with an environmental theme.” One of her works is a response to public discussion about asylum seekers. “I read comments in which people compared them to weeds, so I used that imagery.”
Clockwise from top left: Anita Johnson’s Workbook, Judy Bourke’s Anzac Hill, Liz Jeneid’s Reconciliation books (2 of 25), Kathryn Orton’s Auburn Street (Goulburn) and Lucia Parrella’s Written on Oak Leaves
The curators did not set a theme, but the environment has come through as a strong presence.
“It’s playful, individual and forgiving as a form of expression, but very much on the fringe of the culture, often edgy rather than part of the mainstream,” Judy says.
“Artist’s books are almost impossible to price, because they don’t fit the usual commercial categories. Sometimes they come in a specially made sleeve or box and are meant to be taken out to view rather than kept on permanent display, some have a slightly feral quality,” Liz says, laughing.
Apart from the fact that they are not books that can be read, some are responses to a place, some can be hung on a wall, others open out in a concertina form, some are called tunnel books, some are a collaboration between several makers.
The only thing all the works have in common is the consistently high standard, says Judy, who is delighted that there will be a permanent record of the exhibition in a full colour catalog.
And with that, she’s off to see what’s been delivered in the post today.
Crescendo25 Artist Book Award
Crescendo25 Artist Book Award brings together works by leading and emerging artist book makers from across Australia. November 15-30, 10am-5pm, Clifton School of Arts. Free. Curated by: Liz Jeneid, Judy Bourke, Kathryn Orton, Lucia Parrella.
