Augmented Materiality, Lost Reality
Dr. Caren Florance (UC)
Abstract: This paper will investigate the relationship of the internet to artist books with a micro/macro approach: first, its seminal role in creating a distinct Australian generation of book artists and connecting them to the world; second, the broader influence of online photographic presentation upon the making and reception of artist books. They are inextricably entwined, because the geographical obstacles presented by Australia’s size means that many creative relationships are digital despite the materiality of the work itself. The increasingly sticky ‘wicked’ problem facing any investigation into social internet-based history is that many of the records and sites of activity are neglected, corrupted, obsolete and often simply missing.
I will be using case studies from my experience as an artist book practitioner of 20 years, and I will discuss my attempts to pull together early source texts and traces of activity that are not represented in other digital archives. Of extra, current, interest is the 2020 Libris Award exhibition and its digital presence. Critical underpinnings are provided by field theorist Pierre Bourdieu (1993) and material bibliographers such as Jerome McGann (1991) and Andrew Piper (2012). It is my hope that this paper will ‘flush out’ more source material from the community.
References
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The Field of Cultural Production (R. Johnson Ed.). US: Columbia University Press.
McGann, J. J. (1991). The Textual Condition. New Jersey, US: Princeton University Press.
Piper, A. (2012). Turning the Page (Roaming, Zooming, Streaming). In Book Was There: Reading in Electronic Times (pp. 45-61). Chicago: Chicago UP.
About: Dr. Caren Florance is a typo-bibliographic artist and writer who lives and works in Canberra, Australia. Her practice-led doctorate from the University of Canberra (UC) explored the overlaps of visual poetry, text art, and artist books through material collaboration with poets and artists. A sessional lecturer, she teaches book arts and typography at the ANU School of Art & Design, and visual communications at UC plus she undertakes freelance book design and layout. Her work, often under the imprint Ampersand Duck, is in national and international galleries, library and private collections.