Overview

In anticipation of the forthcoming VOLUME 2015 | Another Art Book Fair Artspace, Perimeter Books and Printed Matter Inc. are pleased to present a public talk with Max Schumann (Acting Executive Director of Printed Matter, Inc.). In this slide lecture, The Possibilities of the Artists' Book, Schumann will give an historical introduction to the contemporary artists' book, as well as to Printed Matter, Inc. the world's leading non-profit institution devoted to artists' books. 

He will discuss the recent phenomenon of a "renaissance" in artists' book activity by a new generation of experimental artists' and artist publishers. In this digital age, with some luminaries proclaiming the death of the book, and with the mainstream publishing industry in an extended period of crisis, we are actually witnessing a resurgence of artists' publishing activity and public interest. 

Schumann will examine this trend in relation to the trajectory of contemporary artists' book history, as well as the context of the digital information revolution, and its social and political implications.

Schumann will also preview details of the Printed Matter Inc.’s own archive that will form a substantial portion of VOLUME 2015 | The Exhibition, a curated presentation of artists’ book and series of workshops that will precede VOLUME 2015 | Another Art Book Fair. Printed Matter's Curated Shelves will present a small historical survey of artists' books from the 1970s to the present that are available for sale. The selection will underscore the diversity of themes, styles, forms and approaches that artists have used in engaging the editioned book as their medium.