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A Manifesto for the Book

A Manifesto for the Book, co-authored by Sarah Bodman and Tom Sowden, is the principal outcome of an AHRC-funded project: ‘What will be the canon for the artists’ book in the 21st century?’(May 2008 - February 2010). Through a series of interviews with curators, artists, librarians, bookmakers, gallerists and educators, the project analysed the current context and the future of artists’ books, exploring the concepts that inspired their creation and scrutinising the debates that attend their production. Through a series of fourteen case studies, the project, responding to American art critic Johanna Drucker’s call for a revised terminology for artists’ books in the twenty-first century, significantly extended an awareness and understanding of what now constitutes an artist’s book, spanning traditional production methods to contemporary digital technologies. Sowden’s individual output consisted of conducting and writing seven interviews and three case studies and designing the diagram, as well as running the online discussion group on Artist Books 3.0 (http://artistbooks.ning.com/group/21stcenturybook).

The research was presented by the co-authors at two seminars and a conference and through three exhibitions [2008-2010]. A Manifesto for the Book was made available virtually on the project’s website [www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/canon.htm] and has been downloaded by over 19,000 visitors to the site. It was translated into Portuguese in Pli Magazine (Spring 2012), an arts design criticism quarterly, at the invitation of the editor José Bartolo. Articles and interviews from the project have been published in Printmaking Today and The Artist’s Book Yearbook (2011-2012). David Paton has reviewed the project for On Making: Integrating Approaches to Practice-led Research in Art and Design, University of Johannesburg (15-16 October 2009).