Down under but not out back.FOCUS ON ARTISTS' BOOKS III ARTSPACE MACKAY MACKAY, QUEENSLAND Mackay (pop. 82,288[1]) is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about 900 kilometres north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar. , AUSTRALIA FEBRUARY 25-26, 2006 Artspace Mackay, a regional arts center located in a small coastal town in tropical Queensland, holds one of the most significant public collections of artists' books in Australia. The collection of over four hundred works by significant Australian and international artists inspired its director Robert Heather to organize the first National Artists' Book Forum in 2004. In only three years, this day-long seminar has grown into Focus on Artists' Books, a two-day conference including workshops, master classes, displays, and several exhibitions at sites throughout Artspace Mackay. This year launched the first "Libris Awards: Australian artists' books prize and exhibition" with an impressive display of over 170 works submitted by established artists and students alike. The Artists' Book Forum drew more than 130 delegates from across Australia, a sizable number considering the continent's ratio of population to land mass. It was an official event celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the Print Council of Australia and IMPRINT magazine, as well as the third anniversary of Artspace Mackay. Support for the event came from an impressive roster of funding organizations ranging from regional and national government arts initiatives to universities and local businesses. The conference program explored "the crossover Crossover The point on a stock chart when a security and an indicator intersect. Crossovers are used by technical analysts to aid in forecasting the future movements in the price of a stock. In most technical analysis models, a crossover is a signal to either buy or sell. between the traditional 'book arts' and the contemporary work of artists' book creators in other countries and Australia." Invitations were extended to artists and educators including Keith Smith For other persons named Keith Smith, see Keith Smith (disambiguation). Keith Smith(1952-2006) was a former English rugby player; he excelled in playing centre. He first played with Yorkshire Colts rugby then advanced to Roundhay. , Marshall Weber, and this author from the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. ; Odine Lang from Germany; and Narae Kim from South Korea. Each had a unique opportunity to interact with a full range of Australian practitioners, scholars, collectors, and critics in the field. This exchange continued with two-week artist-in-residencies throughout Australia. A primary aim of the conference was to create a dialogue about the relationship of conceptual artists' books to more traditional book arts within the Australian artists' books community. The program quoted at length from Johanna Drucker's essay, "Critical issues/Exemplary works," originally presented at the 2004 Pyramid Atlantic Book Conference in Silver Springs, Maryland, and recently published in The Bonefolder. (1) This text sparked a lively debate in the online book arts community, which continued with this forum. Participants questioned the need to establish a "canon" of artists' books to define the art form and if the discussion was even relevant to Australian book arts. Weber--artist, curator, and a founding director of Booklyn Artists Alliance--delivered the first day's keynote address keynote address n. An opening address, as at a political convention, that outlines the issues to be considered. Also called keynote speech. Noun 1. , "Book Arts in Society." Weber's perspective is that of an activist who sees much of the discussion of defining the artist's book as academic, repetitive, and narrow. He argued for the "immense body of theoretical work and dialogue pertinent to the field" that is available but does not penetrate the ivory tower ivory tower n. A place or attitude of retreat, especially preoccupation with lofty, remote, or intellectual considerations rather than practical everyday life. . Artists' use of the book for activist causes was cited and special collection's librarians were lauded for their support in collecting and making artists' books more accessible. The online resources of the State Library of Queensland The State Library of Queensland is a large public library provided to the people of the State of Queensland, Australia, by the State Government. Its legislative basis is provided by the Queensland Libraries Act 1988. and Otis College of Art and Design The school's programs, accredited by WASC and National Association of Schools of Art and Design, include four-year degrees in the typical art school fare: illustration, fine arts, graphic design, architecture, landscape design, interior design, and fashion design as well as newer fields were given as examples. (2) In a panel titled "What's in a name--is it important to define artists' books?," presenters questioned whether Australian (and other non-U.S. or European) artists would be underrepresented un·der·rep·re·sent·ed adj. Insufficiently or inadequately represented: the underrepresented minority groups, ignored by the government. if a canon were established today. Finding a common language for the definition of books was not an overwhelming issue here, as most of the Australian book artists/presenters shared a printmaking printmaking Art form consisting of the production of images, usually on paper but occasionally on fabric, parchment, plastic, or other support, by various techniques of multiplication, under the direct supervision of or by the hand of the artist. background. Angela Cavalieri, who exhibited extremely large linoleum linoleum (lĭnō`lēəm), resilient floor or wall covering made of burlap, canvas, or felt, surfaced with a composition of wood flour, oxidized linseed oil, gums or other ingredients, and coloring matter. prints, spoke to the way her bookworks, incorporating text and architectural motifs, revisioned her primary practice of printmaking. Conference papers discussing international practice in the book arts were presented. Sarah Bodman of the Centre for Fine Print Research in Bristol, England, described the Centre's international reach with exhibition and education programs, a monthly newsletter, and the annual The Artist's Book Yearbook. Kim of the Korean Book Arts Fair showed a video documenting the 2005 Seoul International Artists' Book Fair that integrated small press and artists' books into Asia's second largest trade book show. Lang of Brunswick University in Brunswick, Germany, gave a lively illustrated tour of the "Room of Painter's Books" at the Duke August Library in Wolfen-buttel and told the fascinating story of Alexandre Janck, "the women who eats books." Andrea Stretton, contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. of Art and Australia, delivered the second day's keynote address which examined the book as a visual symbol throughout art history. Illustrations from colonial Australian painting through contemporary art practice traced the history of reading, the power of knowledge, and the segue se·gue intr.v. se·gued, se·gue·ing, se·gues 1. Music To make a transition directly from one section or theme to another. 2. between literature and the visual arts visual arts npl → artes fpl plásticas visual arts npl → arts mpl plastiques visual arts npl → . It was an insightful presentation that revealed the metaphoric power that artists' books unconsciously draw upon. The problematic definition of book-as-object was raised in the final panel discussing "Sufferance: Women's Artists' Books," a project developed by the State Library of Queensland in 2005 commemorating the centenary of women's suffrage The term women's suffrage refers to an economic and political reform movement aimed at extending suffrage — the right to vote — to women. The movement's origins are usually traced to the United States in the 1820s. and the fortieth year of Indigenous Peoples The term indigenous peoples has no universal, standard or fixed definition, but can be used about any ethnic group who inhabit the geographic region with which they have the earliest historical connection. gaining the right to vote. It seemed an object lesson in the use of language. While the exhibit banner proclaimed "your notion of the artists' book will never be the same," it was agreed the beautifully crafted objects that sensitively reflected the theme of the exhibition were distinctly not books. There were plenty of agreeable books to be experienced between sessions. Tables were made available for delegates to display work, augmenting the panel presentations with hands-on exposure and one-on-one conversation during civilized tea breaks in the morning and afternoon. Artspace Mackay should be commended for facilitating a lively cross-continental exchange of ideas throughout Focus on Artists' Books III. The effort to develop an ongoing international dialogue continues with papers from this and previous forums available on their Web site. (3) SCOTT MCCARNEY is an artist and teacher living in Rochester, New York This article is about the city of Rochester in Monroe County. For the town in Ulster County, see Rochester, Ulster County, New York. Rochester, once known as The Flour City, and more recently as The Flower City or . He was a Focus on Artists' Book III artist-in-residence at Studio West End in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. NOTES 1. See www.philobiblon.com/bonefolder. 2. See http://artistsbooks.slq.qld.gov.au/ and http://content.library.otis.edu/collections/artistsbooks.htm. 3. See www.artspacemackay.com.au. info For more information about Focus on Artists' Books see www.artspacemackay.com.au. |
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