In search of the book as a work of art

In Search of the Book as a Work of Art asks questions about how we understand the words 'art' and 'book' and what happens when we put them together. It argues that the categories by which we have distinguished different kinds of books no longer tell us what we are looking at when we look at new books, including many made by trade publishers. Categories like 'fine press book' and 'artist book' have served useful purposes in the past, but are now redundant in the face of the incredible range of categorical overlaps in books that people are actually making. Along the way, this book explores and explodes a number of current ideas about books whose use-by dates are seen by the author as well and truly passed. This work supplements the author's earlier essays, The Books to Come (Cuneiform 2012) and The Printing of a Masterpiece (Black Pepper 2008), with a summation of four decades as a poet, printer, commentator, and publisher in the field. Taking his cue from a long-felt need for 'the book' to be a serious conversation outside of specialist discourse, the author presents an account in plain language about art and about the book that implies no expert knowledge - no technical terms, no specialised concepts, and no need to have the artist or their curators on hand to tell us what we are seeing when we see or pick up any new book. If this book is a critique, it is not a critique of any book made by anyone under the banner of the old categories (private press book, fine press book, artist book, limited edition book, and so on) but it is an examination of the words we use to talk about these books. It wants to know how the non-expert already talks about books and to see if a greater sensitivity to that ordinary language, 'the language of the tribe', is what we need instead of an increase in the complexity of the language with which we talk to each other about books - a turn to the books themselves.

Review :
Alan Loney's newest book invites the same type of deep and lasting discussion as his 2010 monograph, The Books to Come. Craft practice, canonical work, the contested role of academia, philosophical approaches to the Book and the book, all become food for thought and questioning. From Mallarmé to Beatrice Warde, Loney offers us a variety of voices, including most importantly his own, through which we can explore our connections to the book as an object and as a work of art. -- Kathleen Walkup, Lovelace Family Chair in Book Art, Mills College, California Loney's personal approach is strong medicine -- an antidote to the worn discourses that drain the concept of the book as a work of art of all meaning. -- Peter Koch, The Codex Foundation, California With rare grace and wide-ranging erudition Alan Loney dismantles the exclusive and elitist myths regarding both book and work of art in our digital age. This is a most welcome celebration of book and artmaking in all their specificity and materiality. -- Marion May Campbell, Deakin University, Australia Taxonomy is for lovers, but there is nothing particularly romantic about it. Loney's lust-for-life lexicon engages the heart, hand, and mind, allowing the eye to see the book, our surroundings, and ourselves, with clarity and astonishment. Deeply philosophical and meditative, turning these elegant and engaging, poetic and experiential pages is invigorating. -- Kyle Schlesinger, Cuneiform Press, Texas Master printer Alan Loney has produced a work of remarkable expansiveness and poetry. Blending history, philosophy and personal reflection, In search of the book as a work of art is a valuable contribution to the literature on the contemporary book and contemporary art. -- Francis McWhannell, curator and writer, New Zealand As an artist that makes books, I used to spend a great deal of time contemplating 'the Book'. Alan Loney's work and writing has taught me to pay attention to the book: as it is, in the hands, ordinary and miraculous, always generous, always resisting definition. -- Aaron Cohick, NewLights Press/The Press at Colorado College One of the many take-aways from this book: On 'The redundancy of the Artist's Statement' -- 'Not only is it extraneous to the work, but it can skew our perceptions away from our own best interests, which are ... served best by being open to the work and free of persuasion ... The work itself is the artist's statement. ' -- Carolee Campbell, Ninja Press, California