" Books for Alex Selenitsch " by Sarah Jones
Sewn dolls stuffed with shredded codex text, 2007, each book unique.
“ In a paper delivered at the 6th Australian print symposium 2007, Alex Selenitsch made the suggestion that artists books can be distinguished from conventional books in that they are not taken to bed. “
This tounge in cheek response by Sarah to A Selenitsch re-asserts the inability to effectively define those ambulant artworks that are now well know as artists books. Despite Sarah’s humour her books are clearly Bodies of text. The fragment of text caught in the zipper of the blue body, the shape of the bodies formed by the text stuffed into them, these bodies are know from the words used to construct them both physically and conceptually. Words and language are at the heart of anyones conscious perception of themselves. Yet despite all of our words much of what we are, such as some emotions, remains unexpressed. Words facilitate and limit our ability to express ourselves.
Taking a book to bed speaks of an intimacy of space and place. Intimacy between friends is tied to the ability to communicate, artists books exsist in both these places, as an intimate space and a space to communicate.
“Does the space change in the performance of reading an artists book?”
