Ars Libris: Artists’ Books as Ergodic Texts: Mean Bone / Evil Eyes / Future Fantasteek! No.18

This was a group exhibition of artists' books. Three artist's books were accepted; Mean Bone / Evil Eyes / Future Fantasteek! No.1.

“Artists’ books” is a term coined by Diane Vanderlip to describe the pieces gathered in an exhibition that she curated at Moore College of Art in 1973. But the concept itself arguably dates back much earlier. Defying description and evading definition, artists’ books have generally come to denote works of art crafted as or from actual books. They emphasize physical qualities over literary ones and necessitate unconventional relationships with their “readers,” demanding interactions that are radically distinct from those of traditional books. The difficulty intrinsic to such interactions speaks to the nature of artists’ books as ergodic texts, texts that Espen J. Aarseth maintains require a nontrivial, extra-intellectual effort to traverse. Despite, or perhaps because of, their elusiveness and complexity, such books, including those fashioned by Brian Dettmer, Georgia Russell, Kaspen, and many others, challenge the presumed parameters of the
textual and the visual. In doing so, they raise and respond to urgent questions regarding art, literature, and readership.