Part II of a recent essay by Kyle Schlesinger is up at Jacket2:
Although entirely worthy of study, I’m the first to admit that descriptive bibliography is obsolete. Working closely with librarians and archivists at UVA, [Johanna] Drucker’s Artists’ Books Online set in place an important, revolutionary, framework for the future of bibliography. The ability to see, retrieve, print, document, and describe artists’ books that often exist in relative obscurity is nothing short of the Gutenberg Revolution all over again, only different. Many of the books featured on the site were produced in small editions for one reason or another, making it difficult for readers to obtain or even visit with these titles in a public or private library. The digitalization of the book has decentralized critical bibliographic information, spreading the seeds far and wide—one need only invoke the Library of Alexandria to convey the advantages of doing so, yet some librarians and artists feel threatened by the move and its implications on the status of a work’s originality and value. Yet time has proven the opposite to be true: the more people know about a particular book though online exhibition, analysis, and discussion, the more likely it is to be understood and valued.
I am wondering if this essay would have been easier to read in one go. Here's Part I again.
Kyle Schlesinger is a poet who writes and lectures on typography and artists’ books. He is proprietor of Cuneiform Press and co-director of the Graduate Program in Publishing at the University of Houston-Virginia.
Wellll....it's time for a longer break, for a lot of good reasons (which is, of course, a far, far better thing than taking it for bad ones.) Think 'talking 25 year old son with autism' for starters. I will be flashing intermittently here like a sick modem till June, if at all, and then taking stock again.
For now, the Internet's going to continue as a fine distraction, taken neat, rather than an enthralling one, diluted with mixers (for example, if I see one more post on e-readers in my feeds I will probably mutate into an iTablet myself). I will lurk on my friends' blogs - that's a given, and there might be a review, or two at some stage - but only general maintenance will be undertaken here.
You might like to follow the Wheeler Centre, SPUNC news (yes, that's the feed to the whole site down in the lefthand corner of the homepage), the engaging blogs of the book artist known as Ampersand Duck and artist Fifi at Strange Fruit, and keep an eye on this page, and things magazine, while I'm gone.
Till June, adieu.
At the Varuna blog, Cate Kennedy talks about the need for feedback during the writing process from other writers and editors, and her appreciation for readers' remarks on her work.
It’s one thing for a critic to praise your deftness with imagery or
whatever, but when someone feels moved to write that they’re planning
on staying alive to read what you might come up with next…well,
that’ll get you back to the desk – elated and close to mysterious
tears, not sure whether to laugh or cry.
There's a review of Judith Beveridge's latest collection, Storm and Honey, by Libby Hart up at Cordite.
Here's another beautiful bit of writing from Ampersand Duck, this time on some of her own work. What a fine photo-essay this is, on the story and making of pillow books. Get her into Black Inc tout de suite.
Looking for something silly? John Williams' personal collection of personals from the LRB is a hoot.
And here is something rather gorgeous I will get in my letterbox at some point, as a subscriber. John Williams comments that "It looks stunning. Not sure how it’s supposed to make the newspaper business feel any better, though. Not exactly a feasible model . . ."
Finally here's a great post by Alec Patric about the latest issue of Page Seventeen, and the life of small mags in general.
Oh My. This is going to be very beautiful indeed.
Looking at the pictures again and reading the post makes me sad, because I can't get to Caren's first solo show myself.
I was going, but the family is kind of combusting quietly and it's best to stay put at present. So, if you can get to Canberra between September 2 and 12, make sure you see this show. I saw some of Caren's work here in the State Library in 2007 and it is simply wonderful, so don't miss out.
Artisan Books, one of my favourite stops on the way into the CBD, advises that their annual Beanie Exhibition is open now.
Do click on their other exhibition invites to the right of the homepage to see what other beautiful things are able to be viewed there, apart from a constantly magnificent selection of books on art, textiles, photography, design, gardens and all manner of crafts
The lovely piece on the invitation is the work of Margaret Lanne.
On the origins of a blogging sensibility - look no further than this post, and this blogger's beautiful early contributions. (What a pity the original publication is no longer in the artist's hands.)
