The Haptic - Texturing Discourse on the Book
Dr. Tim Mosely (QCA)
Abstract: This paper reaffirms the critical role of haptic aesthetics in advancing artists' book practice to the level of a critical field. The nature of human perception is premised on touch calibrating our vision. To put it very bluntly, without touch we are unable to make sense of our world. Despite this, our technological advances have only served to further entrench occular centrism within our lives. In her 1965 essay “Tactile Sensibility” Anni Albers identified an increasing absence of tactile sensibilities within our reception of works of art. To address this loss Albers' broke the problem into three parts: firstly the absence of the senses of touch in our reception of works of art; secondly shortcomings in the related discourses addressing touch; and thirdly a loss or absence of a latent “tactile sensibility and articulation” within artists and the public. Albers then calls for artists to engage touch in their studio practice to develop a vocabulary for the discourse.
Albers’ concern dovetails seamlessly with a corresponding call for critical vocabulary within discourse on artists' books. As a creative field, artists' books still lack critical recognition despite the growing number of highly acclaimed works of art realised through the book. This concern is identified by leading figures within the discourse, e.g. Lucy Lippard in 1985 and Johanna Drucker in 2005.
This paper positions the haptic and its related critical discourse as vital elements in the response; firstly to Albers' shortcomings in the related discourses addressing touch, and secondly to Drucker's call for critical vocabulary in the reception and evaluation of artists books.
About: Tim Mosely’s art practice and writing contribute to the fields of print culture, artists' books, and haptic aesthetics. His work has been exhibited in significant survey exhibitions and is held in prominent national and international artists' books collections. His current research focus, the haptic and our relationship with wilderness (the bush), draws on the autographic and indexical nature of prints and on artists' books to investigate that relationship.
He lectures in fine art, convenes the print program and abbe (artists books brisbane event) at Queensland College of Art, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia.