This was my second British Library Book Arts event and the theme this time was ‘futures.’ I couldn’t believe my luck as I looked to the back of the room and saw mini printers, tiny screens, scrolling print outs and pixelating lights. Having spent the morning thinking about machine learning and how on earth to bring it into my work it was great to meet some book artists for whom this is part of their practice.
Jan Hopkins talked with great humility and humour about her work, I loved how she described her relationship to her machines and how freely she talks about letting go of her process and seeing what emerges. She uses Open AI networks with Reddit texts as training sets. I like her notion of experiencing moments of magic and chaos, or as she described it ‘this is the place where signs and symbols escape us.’ I was happily transfixed. Her printing machines look like 21st Century Heath Robinson inventions, they are performative, with a distinct physical presence. I was pleased to hear her say that from her perspective the digital also has a materiality that tends to get ignored.
Richard Carter also uses algorithms and, in his talk, he speculated on the notion of how machines fail and how that helps us with ambiguity. He has been exploring other ways of seeing and how algorithms can be a part of that. He raised interesting issues about authorship – are we artists or editors in this relationship, how do we understand non-human agency?
I loved his expression – ‘unruly agency.’
Tom Sowden introduced an interesting mix of perspectives – as an artist, curator, collector and academic. He has a particular interest in appropriation and talked about the influence of the work of Ed Ruscha (who I have since discovered is on show at Tate Modern), he also shared lots of examples which was great. It reinforced the thing I enjoy about book objects, the fact that they can be handled and explored in a way that can’t be done with work on the walls.
Hearing Helen Douglas speak about her work and showing many examples felt like being in the presence of book arts royalty. She first began making artists books in 1972 and has been a prolific maker ever since. I was interested in her approach that explores the book form, narrative and photography. She also talked about creating scrolls and crossing those over into digital works accessible via a tablet.
Guy Bigland gave an absorbing introduction to his work on language and systems of order. He works in different media but has a particular interest in the book form. I was really taken by the ideas that sparked his works – like all the titles on the shelves in holiday homes he’s stayed in or a flip book based on the Likert Scale. I found it a great example of taking creative inspiration from unlikely sources.
It was a really inspiring session and I am left with renewed enthusiasm for the book object, as well as ideas for how I might incorporate it into my digital remains work. I am really intrigued by machine learning and how that might become a feature, I just need to find someone who can help me with the technology side!
Seeing Helen Douglas’ work has also motivated me to go back to my photographic work and think about how I incorporate that more into my book objects. I will also do a more research into Ed Ruscha and his wider influence; I don’t know why but I haven’t really done much research into the history of artists’ books so that is something else to follow up.