Tuesday 24 August 2010

Candida Bradley: Introducing us to the world of Book Arts




Welcoming Candida Bradley as our first artist in residence we are becoming immersed in the world of Book Arts. Candida is currently devising a 10 week course open to anyone with an interest in creative bookmaking. The course will give you an opportunity to discover and explore the unique and wonderful world of Book Arts. During the course you will learn to make artist books using a number of different materials and techniques which can be adapted to help you express your own ideas and challenge your imagination. Books produced by students and the tutor will form a local exhibition in December.

The Tate Gallery define artists books as ‘books (normally defined as a number of pages attached to each other in some way) that are wholly or primarily conceived by (though not necessarily actually produced by) an artist and that are made in multiple editions.’

Book Arts bypass the constraints of the gallery – giving the creator complete control. The ‘walls’, or pages, of the book are the limit of your gallery. One can transform the form of a book from how we are accustomed to it, to something much more creative and thought-provoking. By participating in this course your perception of books as objects and as tools for communication, will take you to a completely new level of appreciation for the 'book'.