" 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?”
2 comments:
well done ms.jones a very witty and amusing work, it made me laugh- it would also be interesting to know if this Selenitsch fellow has a reply to your works, please post anything if he does
I think the space does change, but that the artefact - the book - doesn't. I'm thinking of the artists' book as a dialogue, of sorts, between its creator and its intended audience, and how in speaking we change our voices to suit our conversational partners. I change the modulation of my voice when I'm speaking to a larger group of people; it's different when I'm whispering with my daughter - but the words might be the same.
I'm interested also in your comment about how 'words facilitate and limit our ability to express ourselves', a problem that confronts people who speak more than one language. I can say things in one language that are impossible to frame in another... how strange.
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