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Curated by Will Cumming and Marianne Hargreaves, the Artists' Book Exhibition will provide a fascinating introduction to a relatively unknown aspect of contemporary art practice. I recently had the opportunity to talk to Will about the exhibition and discover what Book Art is all about.

David Chin: Let's start from the beginning, what is Book Art?

Will Cumming: It is about seeing the book as a complete, designed object in itself. With traditional books the content is the most important aspect and the binding of the books is usually conventional. A designer normally deals with the layout of text and image inside and the design of the cover. The result of this is that the way in which we experience a conventional book is essentially the same. Book Art seeks to push the boundaries of book design in a way that allows a specific structure to also communicate the content of the book. In other words the structure of the book is designed in response to text and image, it may take the form of traditional binding, but it does not usually.

DC: Are the books made to be read?

WC: In some cases, there is text, in some cases there is no text at all – the concept might just be a beautiful sequence of colours and shapes evocative of the subject. And that's the way the book communicates; through structure and colour, rather than text and images. The artist's book is still a container of information and meaning which can be experienced in a sequential way like a conventional book, but structurally the experience can be the book 'as architecture,' or the book 'as a vessel' or the book 'as sculpture.'

DC: Where did you get the idea to have an exhibition of Book Art?

WC: The idea of Book Art is not new at all. There have been a number of artists working very seriously with book art since the 1950s in both America and Europe. It is a popular art form in both of those continents. It is a relatively new thing in New Zealand, not more than 15 years old.

DC: Who are the leading lights in the Book Art world?

WC: There are several. Probably the two most important are Clare van Vleit, Vermont, USA, and Ron King, London, UK. They both have their own commercial printing presses and studios and have been supporting themselves through selling Book Art for 30 to 40 years.

DC: Who have you invited to participate in the Artists' Book Exhibition?

WC: We really wanted to invite a selection of people who all make art, but people for whom book art is not a part of their way of working. We want to get people to address the book from their own perspective, as a sculptor, painter, printmaker, architect, landscape designer, graphic designer, whatever.

DC: A lot of the works will be interactive in that the visitor will be allowed to touch and read the books.

WC: That is indeed the intention, but we also have to accept that there maybe pieces that are not intended to be handled. It might be the artist's intention that the book object is just viewed as a sculptural piece.

David Chin

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Botanic Gardens.