TITLE WORK: The expanded practice of the artist’s book
Immersion in the artist’s museum
AUTHOR: Francisco Varela
MEDIUM: photo–essay
PAGES: 188
DIMENSIONS: 20,3 cm x 12,7 cm
PAPER: Recycled Natural 135 gsm
BINDING: perfect bound
PROCESS: HP Indigo
COLOUR: Black & white
EDITION: Paperback
DESIGN: mobile studio
PUBLISHER: msdm publications
PUBLICATION DATE: 2022
ISBN: 978-1-7390996-9-5
Published on the occasion of the exhibition +
conference: Virtual Museums
An inquiry into virtual art / institutions
& communities
August 15-17 2022 Queen’s University,
Isabel Bader Centre for the Performing Arts
Kingston Canada [+ info]
£19.99
buy here [+]
How do we recognise an artist’s book when it becomes an expanded practice?
Is the same method of sourcing, research and display of materials used in books and collections alike?
Can the space where the book is made and exhibited be considered an artist’s museum?
These were Francisco Varela initial questions when he saw the Blackchapel bookwork at
msdm house-studio-gallery in London.
The first section of the essay explores the “expanded” characteristics of the artist’s book, probing whether
this notion is extensible to the activity of space production practiced by paula roush at her house–studio–gallery,
an activity which is unique to and inseparable from her live-work method. These artistic methodologies are clarified
within an interdisciplinary framework that includes the concepts of “autoethnography,” “space–time sequence”
and “contemporaneity.”
The second section explores the notion of “dispositif,” with the intention to reveal the multiple structuring elements
of a live–work practice here called “immersive.”
The third section analyses the “museographic” process inherent to the space, a practice associated to the house–studio–gallery.
This live–work–curation method is identified in relation to various museological frameworks that are exercised in that space.
All photographs of artists' books and museums, and exhibitions in the book are from the video-essay
"The expanded practice of the artist’s book: Immersion in the artist’s museum'
[Francisco Varela, Video HD,11m 05”, English]
Francisco Varela is an architect, photographer, creator of artists’ books, a creative practice characterised by a reflection on notions of ‘curating’ and ‘territory’.
He is associated with the Fine Arts School University of Porto, and author of the photobooks beautiful plateau (Pierrot le Fou, 2019) and Memoria Liquida (FV, 2021).
contact
paula roush ::: paularoush@gmail.com
msdm studio ::: msdm@msdm.org.uk