Artist books!

For the past few years, alongside my printmaking work, I have been exploring and making 'Artist Books'.

This has included small easily reproducible 'zines', to fine-art unique state artist books.

In 2013, I spent many months researching, experimenting, planning and producing the artist book 'The Graveyards of Consumption'.

Our consumerist lifestyle is structured in ways that make it very difficult for us to see its material and ethical consequences in a global context, and the impacts on people and places that are geographically and socio-culturally distant from us. One of these hidden aspects of such limited life span products is their ongoing need for delivery and removal. 

This artist book explores the journey of the container ship, just one of the many vehicles of transport involved in supplying these goods. I wanted to bring attention to this almost invisible system that since the 1960s has increasingly brought us almost everything we consume. 

When these container ships reach the end of their useful lifespan, they are often towed to and left on the coasts of some of the world’s poorest countries. 

This artwork was intended to link our purchase and discarding of consumer objects with the global implications of the life cycle of the container ship.

This artist book features the processes of etching, collograph and screen print. It uses 290gsm Coventry Rag paper and was bound with coptic stitch binding. It is an edition of 3.

It measures 17cm x 17cm x 2cm. It has 22 pages, many of which fold out and are cut into shapes resembling container ships and cities, as well as cut outs to reveal parts of the images on the following pages. 

Close up images of some of the individual etchings (which were exhibited in several 2014 exhibitions) can be seen at my earlier post here.

But here are some images of the book itself. As always, digital reproductions of artworks never do the art any justice. Indeed, I believe that artist books are meant to be handled, turned page by page, and pondered in one's own time.

In the coming days, I plan to enter this work into the 5th Sheffield International Artist's Book Prize. Unlike other exhibitions, this one allows visitors to handle the books. which is how I believe my artist books should be experienced.

If I am accepted, I will also be donating this artist book to their collection.