It starts with the book…
Selections from the Artist Book Collection at Paper Machine
January 9 to February 28, 2021
Antenna’s Reading Room Gallery
Physical touch and sensory engagement are integral to the experience of artist books. Since their inception artist books have defied book cataloging and handling rules, baffling librarians and collectors. Are they works of art that must be paged through with white gloves? Are they one of a kind or democratic multiples? Are they meant to deteriorate, perhaps quickly? Each book has its own answer.
The Artist Book Collection at Paper Machine is unique because it embraces this ambiguity. Free and open to the public, ABC invites patrons to view and handle artist books freely and with care. No glass cases, no white gloves.
Particularly during our current health crisis when physical touch is limited, an artist book is a rare and sacred token of intimacy: a book made with skill by hand, with its form integral to its function, so that it might be handled with joy and care by its readers.
The books in this exhibit were selected for their heightened engagement with the senses. May you touch, read, play and forget your troubles if only for a few moments.