Zones of Activity: Artists' Books Exhibit
The current exhibit at Denison Library, Zones of Activity, was curated by nine students in a Scripps Core III class under the direction of Professor Kitty Maryatt. For the project, each student selected a different genre of artist books as outlined in The Century of Artists' Books by Johanna Drucker. Throughout the fall semester students consulted with Denison Librarian, Judy Harvey Sahak, who helped them identify items in their chosen area. The students then studied the books to create presentations, the exhibit, and essays for the exhibit catalog. The culmination of this project was on display through March 19, where the viewer observed each student's interpretation of genres such as “Democratic Multiples” or “Self-reflexivity in Book Form.”
Denison's Reference Librarian, Kelley Bachli, interviewed Kitty Maryatt(left) and Denison Librarian Judy Harvey Sahak(right) about their experience working on the exhibit.
KB: Kitty, what gave you the idea to have your Scripps Core III class curate an exhibit at Denison Library?
KM: I wanted the students to curate an exhibit of artist books so that they would be able to develop their own artist books by the end of the semester. I knew we could do that at Denison because the artist book collection is extensive and, better yet, accessible to my students. Not only does Denison have a strong collection, but the books they chose were made available to us for the entire semester. This might not have been possible anywhere else. And with the librarian's help, students could find what they needed. The real magic occurred when the students worked with Judy. Students would describe what they were looking for. Judy would work with them and help them find a book that fit their description.
Image: Detail and diagram of accordian book Endangered Species by Lois Morrison, 1999
Over the course of the semester, watching the students discover the collections was one of the most exciting parts of the whole project. Denison's collections are strong in both traditional fine press and contemporary artist books. For the project, each student was assigned one of the genres outlined in Johanna Drucker's book The Century of Artists' Books and had to find five books in our collection from that genre, at least one of which was mentioned by Drucker. I was surprised as to how deep and varied the collection really is, and I have been looking at this collection for twenty years. But the students also had to identify books that Drucker did not mention, such as the Scripps College Press books, or books possibly mentioned by Bright or Hubert from our other textbooks.
KB: What was it like curating the exhibit with 9 students?
KM: One of the goals of the Core III curriculum is for students to develop an independent project and in the process find their voice. The exhibit does that: it gives each of them a voice, even more dramatically when they made their own books. Students were asked to become experts at the genre that they had selected to work with. It was great to watch the students work with the materials and really figure out what they were looking at. It was enjoyable to see how the students, with their fresh eyes, would engage the books.
As part of the project, each student wrote a paper on their assigned genre and described the books they had chosen. I wanted them to be able to articulate what an artist book is and, in a way, become a book critic. Their papers were then used as a basis for the labels in the exhibition cases, the catalog, and for their video presentations of the books. One difficulty with viewing books inside a case is that you normally can only see one opening and just cannot experience the book fully. In the presentations on the video, students show the entire book while explaining what they have discovered about each book.
Image: Detail and diagram of tunnel book Octopus by Julie Chen, 1992
The final excitement came at the end of the semester when we videotaped the students presenting their own artist books. The books were so exceptional that Judy and I decided that they had to be included in the exhibit. I hope visitors will listen to those presentations at the end of the video and discover how accomplished the students became by the end of the semester.
KB: Judy, what was your role in the exhibit?
JHS: My major role was to help the students identify and work through whether a particular book fit into the genre that they had selected, using my knowledge of the collection and understanding of the various genres. For example, if a student was looking for a book by John Baldessari that we don't have, I would show them another book by him that they might decide to include instead. One of the genres in the exhibit is the “Book as Social Change.”
I knew that Lois Morrison's book Endangered Species dealt with totalitarian regimes and how children under them have suffered environmental, political, and economic disasters. The book wasn't mentioned in Johanna Drucker's book, but I was able to introduce the student to the book and it became part of the group she studied and exhibited.
Image: Detail and diagram of altered book by Scripps College student Sarah Young, 2005
KB: What types of books did you find the students were most drawn too?
JHS: Students were drawn to books with interesting structures, such as Julie Chen's tunnel book Octopus or Susan King's flag structure book Women and Cars. They were also amused by book titles, such as Susan Baker's book How to Humiliate your Peeping Tom. Much to my dismay (and this is my prejudice) they also loved an altered book, Buzz Spector's book A Passage. I must admit that it was especially designed to be an altered book and is beautifully made. An altered book can be defined as a book, typically a codex, that an artist decides to mark up, cut, pour ink on pages, perhaps insert a doll or grass, or alter in some way to make it completely different. They were very attracted to that concept. Essentially the students were drawn to the books that people don?t normally think of as being a book, books that stretch your idea of what a book is.
KB: How did you feel about having the Scripps Core III exhibit at Denison Library?
JHS: I was thrilled to hear from Kitty late in the summer that she had been asked to teach this course. When she asked if the cases would be available early in the spring semester for the exhibit, I knew that we had already planned a different exhibit on artists' books. However, this was a class project that was directly involved in the learning process of students, giving them the experience of curating an exhibit as the culminating event in their semester's work. I believe that this is a very valuable experience for the students, so of course we made the cases available for the project. Also appealing was the fact that we could collaborate with a faculty member on the project and the subject matter so closely matched Denison's collections. It was a great opportunity.
Zones of Activity is on display at Denison until March 19, 2006
Kelley Bachli
Denison Reference Librarian
kelley.bachli@libraries.claremont.edu