Joseph Johannes Visser
the Artist’s-Books Workshop,Vilnius 2009 a hand-bound Artist’s-Book / le Livre d’Artist / ein handgebundenes Künstler Buch / Mahler Buch
The theme is FAIRING
1. A ’fairing’ is a gift. More precisely: a ’fairing’ is a present given at or brought from a fair.
2. A ’fairing’ is a thin cake made of sugar and butter.
3. ’Fairing’ is making the surface of an aeroplane smooth and streamlike. More generally it is used for the process of streamlining.
A few web-pages with information for the students; in order for them to have an idea, and make their minds up: http://www.josephjohnvisser.nl
That will include a page with the basic information on ’Printing Traditions in The Netherlands’
I would like the students to read that. When I am there, we could discuss it.
Then the ’hands-on workshop’ before anything: pure, and simple basics on ’books’
1. simpel paper making - and some basic paper-knowledge.
2. water-marking
3. type-setting
4. print-making in relation to type-setting
5. printing on the (Robel-hand-)press
6. folding
7. binding
The result must be an ensemble of pages or booklets that have ’something’ in common; made to be ’an artist’s-book’ on the theme:
< the FAIRINGS > (in general a ’fairing’ is an old-fashioned word for ’gift’; more precisely: a ’fairing’ is a present given at or brought from a fair)
To begin with we could all agree on ’an artist’s-book is a book made by an artist, idea till execution’,
just as a(n artist’s) painting is a painting that has been - concept till finish - ’done’ by the artist.
A first problem there to encounter is that the concept ’artist’s-book’ is not far off from being ’a reproduction’ to begin with - ’reproduction’ in the sense that there is a tendency to thrive towards ’a book(-like-object)’ before anything. I like to think that works of art have something of a solid core, a meaning that gives them their special shape, rather than belonging to a specific genre would decide for the artist what shape his inner-story should reveal itself in to.
This may sound like a fine beginning for a hairsplitting conversation, but I think I should mention this as it is indeed right at the root of many flaws in many deeply boring, and uninteresting artist’s-books.
On the internet you will find loads of information telling you artist’s-book to be a concept of the sixties. I’m afraid I have to disagree there, for that is pretty much like the statement ’beton-brut is the beginning of architecture’, or, for that matter, ’poor-man’s-art is the beginning of the free arts’.
Things are a bit more complicated than that. For all I care (and I care a lot) the first artist’s-books in Europe are beginning to see the light with the brothers Limburg, or rather more the private breviaries that inspired the Duc de Berry to invite the brothers Limburg to make him a unique and especially fine example of this kind of breviary - the medieval book of hours.
Things we must look into during, before, and after the hands-on workshop:
At this moment these pages are developing, as such they are far from ready!
1. simple paper making;
2. watermarking and such;
3. typesetting;
4. printing of text & such;
5. printmaking and printing related to text;
6. folding, cutting, ’paper handling’ related to ’books’;
7. binding basics;
It will not do as day’s-work, it may just help to have some scheme, and rough time-line
The group of 15 students in my workshop will make a book-like-object that is somehow an artist’s-book in an edition large enough for each member of the group to have 1 copy, plus 6 for organizers’ archives & sponsors (at this moment: The Academy’s Archive in Vilnius, The Academy’s Archive in Zwolle, Atelier It Plein 19 in Easterlittens; Drukkerij Douma Dokkum in Dokkum; Fries Grafisch Museum in Joure; The Bokartas Archive in Vilnius); that were an edition of 21 / let us be safe, and say 25 in order to have exemples for the exhibitions.
Results will be shown / exhibited in Vilnius at the end of the course,
and in January in the Fries Grafisch Museum, Joure, The Netherlands.
Prof. Joseph Johannes Visser
the Artist’s-Books Workshop,Vilnius 2009 a hand-bound Artist’s-Book / le Livre d’Artist / ein handgebundenes Künstler Buch / Mahler Buch
The theme is FAIRING
1. A ’fairing’ is a gift. More precisely: a ’fairing’ is a present given at or brought from a fair.
2. A ’fairing’ is a thin cake made of sugar and butter.
3. ’Fairing’ is making the surface of an aeroplane smooth and streamlike. More generally it is used for the process of streamlining.
A few web-pages with information for the students; in order for them to have an idea, and make their minds up: http://www.josephjohnvisser.nl
That will include a page with the basic information on ’Printing Traditions in The Netherlands’
I would like the students to read that. When I am there, we could discuss it.
Then the ’hands-on workshop’ before anything: pure, and simple basics on ’books’
1. simpel paper making - and some basic paper-knowledge.
2. water-marking
3. type-setting
4. print-making in relation to type-setting
5. printing on the (Robel-hand-)press
6. folding
7. binding
The result must be an ensemble of pages or booklets that have ’something’ in common; made to be ’an artist’s-book’ on the theme:
< the FAIRINGS > (in general a ’fairing’ is an old-fashioned word for ’gift’; more precisely: a ’fairing’ is a present given at or brought from a fair)
To begin with we could all agree on ’an artist’s-book is a book made by an artist, idea till execution’,
just as a(n artist’s) painting is a painting that has been - concept till finish - ’done’ by the artist.
A first problem there to encounter is that the concept ’artist’s-book’ is not far off from being ’a reproduction’ to begin with - ’reproduction’ in the sense that there is a tendency to thrive towards ’a book(-like-object)’ before anything. I like to think that works of art have something of a solid core, a meaning that gives them their special shape, rather than belonging to a specific genre would decide for the artist what shape his inner-story should reveal itself in to.
This may sound like a fine beginning for a hairsplitting conversation, but I think I should mention this as it is indeed right at the root of many flaws in many deeply boring, and uninteresting artist’s-books.
On the internet you will find loads of information telling you artist’s-book to be a concept of the sixties. I’m afraid I have to disagree there, for that is pretty much like the statement ’beton-brut is the beginning of architecture’, or, for that matter, ’poor-man’s-art is the beginning of the free arts’.
Things are a bit more complicated than that. For all I care (and I care a lot) the first artist’s-books in Europe are beginning to see the light with the brothers Limburg, or rather more the private breviaries that inspired the Duc de Berry to invite the brothers Limburg to make him a unique and especially fine example of this kind of breviary - the medieval book of hours.
Things we must look into during, before, and after the hands-on workshop:
At this moment these pages are developing, as such they are far from ready!
1. simple paper making;
2. watermarking and such;
3. typesetting;
4. printing of text & such;
5. printmaking and printing related to text;
6. folding, cutting, ’paper handling’ related to ’books’;
7. binding basics;
It will not do as day’s-work, it may just help to have some scheme, and rough time-line
The group of 15 students in my workshop will make a book-like-object that is somehow an artist’s-book in an edition large enough for each member of the group to have 1 copy, plus 6 for organizers’ archives & sponsors (at this moment: The Academy’s Archive in Vilnius, The Academy’s Archive in Zwolle, Atelier It Plein 19 in Easterlittens; Drukkerij Douma Dokkum in Dokkum; Fries Grafisch Museum in Joure; The Bokartas Archive in Vilnius); that were an edition of 21 / let us be safe, and say 25 in order to have exemples for the exhibitions.
Results will be shown / exhibited in Vilnius at the end of the course,
and in January in the Fries Grafisch Museum, Joure, The Netherlands.
Prof. Joseph Johannes Visser
