Practical Investigation - Visual Interpretation of Ulises Carrion's 'The New Art of Making Books'

Referred to Ulises Carrion's essay in search for key quotes I can use for visual inspiration.

What a book is

'A book can exist as an autonomous and self-sufficient form, including perhaps a text that emphasises that form, a text that is an organic part of that form: here begins the new art of making books.'

'In the old art the writer judges himself as being not responsible for the real book. He writes the text. The rest is done by the servants, the artisans, the workers, the others. In the new art writing a text is only the first link in the chain going from the writer to the reader. In the new art the writer assumes the responsibility for the whole process.'

Prose and Poetry 

'In the new art every page is different; every page is an individualized element of a structure (the book) wherein it has a particular function to fulfil.'

'A book of poems contains as many words as, or more than, a novel, but it uses ultimately the real, physical space whereon these words appear, in a more intentional, more evident, deeper way.'

'This is so because in order to transcribe poetical language onto paper it is necessary to translate typographically the conventions proper to poetic language.'

'There are still, and always will be, people who like reading novels. There will also always be people who like playing chess, gossiping, dancing the mambo, or eating strawberries with cream.'

The Space

'The introduction of space into poetry (or rather of poetry into space) is an enormous event of literally incalculable consequences. One of these consequences is concrete and/or visual poetry. Its birth is not an extravagant event in the history of literature, but the natural, unavoidable development of the spatial reality gained by language since the moment writing was invented.'

'In the new art (of which concrete poetry is only an example) communication is still inter-subjective, but it occurs in a concrete, real, physical space - the page'

'If two subjects communicate in the space, then space is an element of this communication. Space modifies this communication. Space imposes its own laws on this communication.'

The Language

'The words in a new book might be the author's own words or someone else's words. A writer of the new art writes very little or does not write at all.'

Structures

'In a book of the old art words transmit the author's intention. That's why he chooses them carefully. In a book of the new art words don't transmit any intention; they're used to form a text which is an element of a book, and it is this book, as a totality, that transmits the author's intention.'

The Reading

'In the old art all books are read in the same way.
In the new art every book requires a different reading.'

'In the old art, to read the last page takes as much time as to read the first one. In the new art the reading rhythm changes, quickens, speeds up.'

'In the new art you often do NOT need to read the whole book. The reading may stop at the very moment you have understood the total structure of the book,'

Initial Response 

'A book of poems contains as many words as, or more than, a novel, but it uses ultimately the real, physical space whereon these words appear, in a more intentional, more evident, deeper way.' 
'This is so because in order to transcribe poetical language onto paper it is necessary to translate typographically the conventions proper to poetic language.'

Sketches inspired by outlining blocks of typography from poems. Abstracted the shapes by making them more curvaceous.

Materials: Gouache Paint

Used gouache paints influenced by the fact that it is a historical medium within fine art. Using paint also reflects the craft orientated approaches for the creation of content before digital tools were available. I have noted that contemporary artists' book publishers such as NewLight Press are still using traditional techniques such as print and painting in order to emulate the printed book through screen.

The fact that the artists' book is an autonomous space where the artist can act independently, I didn't overthink compositions and colour schemes in order to gain more expressive results.

'There will also always be people who like playing chess, gossiping, dancing the mambo, or eating strawberries with cream.':

Painted over original texts. Here I used pages from an Ikea instruction manual to highlight Carrion's variety of languages. I painted over the type to demonstrate how the text is purely an element of the space within a book. 

'A book is a sequence of spaces' - Created a sequence from simple mark making techniques:

Created textures using unconventional mark making techniques. This is to highlight the raw, physical qualities within the book. To achieve this, I used an old credit card and dragged the paint down the page:

Responded more expressively in order to create raw textures and colour combinations:

Photocopier:

Communicating the physical process of making and experiencing the book through photocopying. This was inspired by exploring DIY methods of publishing such as zines. I photocopied my hand in a variety of positions to emulate touching or picking something up. This communicates the manual process of reading a book.

Review

I intend to take these scans into digital production methods such as InDesign in order to see how I can incorporate them into the sequential nature of the book.