JL: We met with Lynn Harris, one of the two directors of AND Publishing on the final day of our research trip in the British Library. AND Publishing is a print on demand artists’ book publishers, who also offer a self publishing facility, alongside their extended activity of workshops, talks and partnerships.
They have been based in
the Byam Shaw Library, which sits in the Byam Shaw School of Art, Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts since its threatened closure by the University in October 2010. AND publishing have taken up residency for the past academic year, running the library with student volunteers 3 days a week and keeping it functioning as an artist–led resource. Lynn spoke of the difficulties in holding a residency in a
university facility under threat of closure, and the unknown future of the library, as well as the huge loss it would be to the artists who are resident in over 100 studios on site, for which Byam Shaw is their main library.
Aside from these areas of concern, AND Publishing have been busy running The Piracy Project, an international publishing and exhibition project with Andrea Francke. There is an ongoing call for contributions for writers to get involved in the project, as well as a series of lectures from Speakers including James Bridle, Eleanor Vonne Brown, Daniel McClean, Maria Fusco, Bobbie Johnson and Dr. Prodromos Tsiavos. We spoke to Lynn about these speakers and others involved in the project so far, and how theirs practices and research overlaps and intersects with the interests of AND and of CWC.
The AND print-on-demand platform, where you can publish, display and sell a publication online is called AND Public. AND offer a variety of printing processes (including Risograph, loose sheet with bindings, laser, booklets and extensive paper choices as well as design support) and are sensitive to the complex and often specific needs of artists bookworks, and art writing practice which makes them an
appealing publishing option for many writers, and indeed for CWC in the future. Lynn showed us some great examples of previous works printed, which are now included in their online and physical library/shop. AND Public also offers an ISBN service, and distribution of any publication to a bespoke readership (offline and on). It is the bespoke readership vs the wider non-arts audience and the free vs paid for print publication debate which we returned to discussing with Lynn, as her knowledge on the complications and costs of design, print and distribution of conceptually driven artists books is vast.
This meeting cast out even more avenues for future research (in terms of printing options, but also individual researchers and writers to look into), and also opened up the possibilities of self-publishing and dissemination as legitimate options for future Critical Writing Collective publications and texts. We will continue to be in touch
with AND Publishing, and hope to attend a lecture or workshop at some point in the future, and if possible, the Byam Shaw Library itself.
