Artists Make Books

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Artists have been making their own publications for centuries, using printing presses, photocopiers or whatever materials they had to hand. Their motivations for doing so are numerous and as varied as the contents within them and the artists themselves. Sometimes, an artist’s book is an addendum to their main practice, cataloguing and commenting on a series or collection of works, other times it is the very core of it and becomes an artwork in and of itself.

From calendars and political zines to exhibition catalogues and serials, artist’s publications take on many forms. At this particular moment in history, when the digital realm threatens to overtake the printed one, it is timely to reconsider the artist’s book as a means of communication.

This short course does just that, taking a look at the history of the genre and investigating varied means of producing a publication from the perspective of the participants as artists working today.