The Book As Art: Artists' Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts

by Johanna Drucker (Commentary), Audrey Niffenegger (Commentary), Krystyna Wasserman

Women have been pioneers in the field of book arts, crafting intimate and insightful works that blend word, image, and media together in exciting and unique ways. Whether produced as one-offs or manufactured in serial form, these volumes share a wonderful craft aspect that has broad appeal to fellow artists, collectors, and ordinary readers alike. Often highly conceptual in form, they stretch the boundaries of what constitutes a 'book.' This illustrated volume presents over 100 artists books held in the permanent collection of the Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C. The publication of this trade book corresponds with the institution s twentieth anniversary celebration. With an engaging introduction by acclaimed fiction-writer Audrey Niffenegger and essays by curator Krystyna Wasserman and renown book arts scholar Johanna Drucker, the text compliments the highly engaging profiles of each work, which will be illustrated in multiple views. Artist biographies, and a comprehensive bibliography round out the offerings.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Books About Books, Crafts, Design

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 12, 2006

About the author

Johanna Drucker, book artist, visual theorist, and cultural critic, is Martin and Bernard Breslauer Professor in the Department of Information Studies at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Reviews

[Am Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

Features a pretty extensive collection of "books" that are also art pieces, in the form of photographs of said works. Each piece comes with a short summary of the artwork, what inspired it, what it's meant to represent, etc.

I appreciate the effort, but the photographs aren't really sufficient for me to appreciate each work properly. Most of the pieces are meant to be interacted with physically which you obviously can't do here. And the problem with the photos is that you can't possibly show every angle of the piece, so something that's very 3D ends up very one-dimensional and lacking depth and meaning. This is one instance where visiting the actual museum to view the actual books themselves would be more rewarding than reading about them.

As for the "books", many of them aren't really actual "books", but abstract representations of them. E.g. you get dolls, cups, etc which are supposed to be "books".

[liberal sprinkles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Book as Art is a wonderful book filled with gorgeous works by women book artists. It showcases an excellent selection of 120 artists' books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, which houses more than 1,000 books curated by Krystyna Wasserman. The books featured in this publication were created in many different forms and structures including traditional book formats, pop-ups, boxes, scrolls, art installation and sculptures. Among the unusual books are :
- Brenda Watson's wing-shaped book Comment Attirer Les Oiseaux made of aluminium, rubber and thread;
- M. L. Van Nice's Dinner With Mr Dewey - an installation of a sumptuous meal created out of 5 altered books, papier-mache, a fish spine, linen and other materials;
- Linda Johnson and Kristy Lewis Andrew's On The Line , with its muslin "pages" laid out on a laundry line;
- Allison Cooke Brown's Teatimes - a box of journal entries written onto tea bags;
- Yani Pecanins' Los Dos Lados (Both Sides) created from a childhood dress with photographs and the words of Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

The pieces in this book were created using a multitude of materials (paper, fabric, glass, wood, metal and stone), cover many themes (travel, dreams, nature, food, relationships, political commentary, personal experiences) and represent a wide range of creative styles. The photographs are accompanied by introductions from the artists, giving insight into the thinking behind their books. The book left me thirsting for more, yearning to see the museum's collection in person, to admire and examine the books more closely.

My only complaint is the errors in editing. I read the updated 2011 edition (the original was published in 2007) - most of the page references in the introductions were wrong, perhaps not updated in the second edition.

[Brigette · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've looked at a lot of books showcasing the work of book artists. This one, from the National Museum of Women in the Arts, is one of the best I've seen. It's strictly a look at a collection of artists with representative works--no how-to, but it will make you want to learn how to create your own.

[R.Friend · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique concept for an exhibition, and a fittingly unique catalog of work.

[Esther]

Books detailing art like this leaves me cold with an uninspired catalogue format of different types of books by different artists as an art form from the collection of National Museum of Women in the Arts. First, why do women-centric works seem so saccarine? Second, if books are an art-form then why are they so poorly executed? Third, the content and subject matter within the book feels derivative.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice book. It's hard to view artist's books under a glass display - its even harder in a book. The essays are good though and I appreciate how this book gives me a way to see what the exhibit was like.

[Saide · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice compilation for a quick skim. There is no detailed information about each and every book so if an artwork speaks to you, you have to do your own further research. Think of it as a starting point for a deeper research if you are into artist's books.

[Francine Fang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful selections of book arts.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant collection, stunningly presented, super inspiring!

[Kerfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was not as impressed by the work in this exhibit as I felt I should be. some of the books are clever, with good ideas, and a few are really special, but in general I didn't pause too long to examine many of them.

It may just be that presenting photos of an interactive piece of art loses too much in translation. A book meant only for display is deprived of its reason for being, especially since a lot of these are constructed in ways that need to be explored and read with moving hands. The content when frozen loses its life.

I longed to turn the pages of Brenda Watson's "How to attract birds?", and to play with the poem combinations of Linda Smith's "Inside Chance"; to make a story with Ann M Kresge's "Shadow Play" puppets, to see the rest of the woodcuts and accompanying words in Amber Past and Naul Ojeda's "Mayan Hearts".

Which raises the question: should books be made to be merely "Art" at all?

[Katie Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

this is a good book for those interested in artists' books. the range isn't terribly expansive but it's hard to track down artists, get their consent, get them to talk about themselves and then get really good pictures of sometimes one-of-a-kind books.
i know this personally.
i dig this book a lot.

all of you who are artists should try at least one time to make a book... and please for the love of a librarian don't think pasting a bunch of stuff into your sketch pad is original.

[Shelton TRL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another inspirational source for book artists wanting to see what the best work looks like, and to also see what the National Museum of Women in the Arts has in their book artists collection. An invaluable resource for the "must have" book artist's library!

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best reference of artist's books that I have. Brilliant. I wish I could have seen the show. Also a fantastic website with a "view the book" widget.

[Debbie Hoskins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Academic and esoteric, but there are some interesting art books presented. The photographs of the books are excellent.

[Ann Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book - artwork selected is fantastic & the layout and photos are beautiful.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating.

[Bobbi Galvin · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Pretty cool! Some altered books, some painted, some folded. Inspiring!"

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creative and inspirational. I would definitely peruse again.