Dick Higgins about the artists’ book: ‘It is a genre, open to many kinds of artists with many different styles and purposes, and so its likely future is that it will simply be absorbed into the mainstream and will be something which artists do as a matter of course, each in his or her own way. To that we can look forward with delight.’

As Art Studio majors at the University of California at Santa Barbara, we were each exposed to a wide range of artistic mediums and were both passionate about all forms of art. We didn’t want to have to pick one; we wanted to do all of them. When we took our first Artists’ Book class with Harry Reese, we were both fascinated by the possibilities offered by the artists’ book and its versatile nature as a container of information. We soon understood that the artists’ book represents not only a vehicle for expressing all forms of art, but also a tool for projecting our voice into the world. Also, the sculptural and historical aspects of the book as structure sparked our interest. With a paired passion for art and art history, the artist’s book quickly became the ideal vehicle for satisfying our curiosity in both fields.

We began to take a particular interest in the juxtaposition of image and text, and we were also excited by the visual impact of text-based work. However, it was not until the winter of 2004 that we had a great perceptual shift in our approach to the artist book. We began exploring the writings of Gary Frost, the
aforementioned Dick Higgins, Stephane Mallarme, Ulises Carrion, Clifton Meador,
Jan Tschichold, Hank Hine and many other writers and artists who have discussed
the artists’ book in a serious and critical way. Through our research and discourse,
we started seeing the book as more than a mere container of information, or as simply
a vehicle for expressing art. We began to realize that artists’ books have the capacity
to make profound statements, and the ‘repeatability’ offered by the medium of print
allows those statements to be widespread. We soon came to an understanding that
the artist’s book best enhances its subject matter when a synergy is struck amongst
its parts. In a text-based work, this means creating a harmonious interrelationship
between text, image, structure, design and content. That realization has forever
changed the way that we look at art and the artists’ book, and has been fundamental
to our approach.

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