This month has been one for talking it seems. I have been asked to do talks on several of the things I am involved with; me (!), Wolstenholme Projects and the book fair mostly.
On Saturday night I was at IMT gallery in London (a beautiful space) for a panel discussion about artists' books and their distribution. It was very interesting, but the slant on the questioning from the chair was so focused on distribution I was left (about 5 minutes in) wondering what I could contribute. As the other panelists were a publisher and a book-shop owner (and book artist) I felt quite low-fi in comparison. The huge disparity in our outlooks/ agendas meant that rather than having a broad ranging debate, it was difficult to discuss fludily as there was just no need for us to agree or disagree on many of the points.
This just demonstrates the massive range of work that is going on in the field. It may have also been because we were in London, in a gallery, where selling things matters. I cringed inside at one point where I had to pipe up and point out that discussion was getting very London-centric and esoteric. I felt alien to the discussion yet I think I am a good example of someone who makes artists' books, where it is not the whole of my practice, but just the best medium for some ideas and also something I make without considering its distribution and audience beforehand.
Books Fairs, which were hardly discussed in comparison to publishers, represent for me the first point of sale for most book artists. They have their own problems but do offer a fantastic opportunity to meet other artists, see work, touch work and maybe buy work too. I am quite unconcerned about getting my books into Waterstones, and as shops such as Tate and ICA also require distributors, I would be much more inclined to look elsewhere like the Book Art Book Shop or the Permanent Gallery to stock my work. Additionally, talking about Ed Rucha et al and their books is interesting and relevant in terms of the history of artists' books, but he and others who were published represent the very few. I suppose the problem for me ended up being that if there were any book artists' in the audience hoping for some insight into outlets for their work, they would have been disappointed.
Tonight is the AIR open dialogue event at Castlefield Gallery in Manchester. This is artists talking about their practice and how they approach it/manage life, the universe and everything. I am certainly looking forward to a more practical bent.
