Arts & Life, Features

CSULB professor exhibited in the Guild of Book Workers presentation “Look, A Book!”

During the rise of e-books and tablets, there are certain books that could never be transferred into an electronic medium.

Cal State Long Beach lecturer Sue Ann Robinson is a fibers professor who specializes in making artist books. These are not books of art, but projects in which the book itself is the art piece.

Robinson has been making artist books for over 30 years, and has once again had her pieces on exhibition. She has three pieces in the “Look, A Book!” exhibit in the Geisel Library at University of California, San Diego. The exhibit, presented by the California Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers, had an opening reception on Sept. 10 and will stay open until Oct. 16.

Robinson discussed her recent showcase and passion for this sometimes under-recognized art form with the Daily 49er.

For people who are unfamiliar with artist books, how would you describe it?

Unlike publishing houses that employ multiple individuals with various expertise — the author, editor, illustrator, printer, designer, binder, etc. — the individual artist exerts complete control over all aspects of the production of the book as an art work. This means that the printing process, the choice of materials used, the contents and the choice of structure are the result of the individual artist’s vision and talents. Books as art include fine press printing, fine and design binding, papermaking, calligraphy, typography, letterpress, silkscreen, lithography and many other printmaking techniques as well as drawing, painting and photography — whatever it takes to produce a limited edition or one-of-a-kind artist book that is a work of art in itself, and not chiefly a container for art.

What do you teach students in your classes at CSULB?

Students learn a variety of book structures — sewn codex bindings, accordion structures — and handmade papermaking from cotton, denim (my old blue jeans), recycled paper (my shredded bills), and kozo fiber. We also make Japanese decorated paper and paste papers. During the course, the students produce four major projects that are original creative works of art: an altered book, an accordion structure, a sewn binding, and a limited edition book. At the end of the course, the students will have learned over a dozen binding structures and created their own original works of art in book form. This year, the class will also have the opportunity to produce a collaborative book for an exhibition at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in an exhibition in Los Angeles in early 2017. [It’s] Very exciting.

What can audiences expect from your pieces at the “Look, A Book!” exhibit?

“Divine Comedy” was inspired by a found wooden box that was supposed to look like a book by Dante that I found at a Pic ‘n’ Save store. In either side of the box lids, I put an accordion structure — one of “heaven” and the other of “hell.” There is very little text and the images are produced using a commercial Japanese photo silkscreen process called “gocco.”

“Curried Book” is also in a found velvet book box and the accordion structure is composed of found printed advertising pamphlets that have been painted with acrylic and paste paper with grit and curry powder. It is probably most accurately described as a sculptural artist book. I think there is so much paper in existence in the world, that I am interested in using what has already been printed and altering it to create new meaning.

“What we see” is an altered antique auction brochure in codex form. As a person who has worked in art museums for over 45 years, I am interested in how we understand material culture. I altered this auction catalogue with collage. And, because I always tell students that they can’t use staples for binding, I chose to use staples as a textural element on selected pages. The tactile qualities of books are important to me. A book as art encourages a close relationship between the viewer and the artist and is a sensual experience.  

Are you a member of the Guild of Book Workers?

Yes, and I am the secretary for the California Chapter. There are 10 regional Chapters of the Guild which is a national organization whose members specialize in one or more of the book arts including: Artist’s Books, Bookbinding, Book and Paper Conservation, Calligraphy, Decorative Paper, Design Binding, Papermaking, Fine and letterpress Printing, as well as collecting in the area of book arts.

This year I will attend the annual GBW 35th Seminar on Standards of Excellence in Hand Bookbinding in Charleston, South Carolina.  I am looking forward to learning about Herrnhuter Paste Paper, Expressive Mark Making, and Exploration of History and Techniques for Pennsylvania German Liturgical Bookbinding before 1850 at the seminar. I’m eager to share this information with my students, especially as we make paste papers in the class.

What was the process that led to you being shown in the Geisel Library?

The CA Chapter of the GBW provides many opportunities for professional collaboration and education including meetings, workshops, field trips and exhibitions. We have talked about having an exhibition of members’ works for a while. The talents of the artist participants are extensive, impressive, beautiful and varied. It was wonderful and inspiring to see the members’ works together. The Geisel Library has been a supportive venue for artists’ books and this exhibition is no exception. It is important to the Chapter to present artist books to the public and it is fitting that this exhibition is also on a campus where students can learn about this art form.

Where else have your works been made exhibited?

My artist books are in the collections of the University of Washington [in] Seattle, National Gallery of Art, Getty Research Institute, Victoria and Albert Museum, Long Beach Museum of Art, Otis Art Institute and National Museum of Women in the Arts,  among many others. I have received many grants and fellowships which have led to new artist books including the Visual Studies Workshop [in] Rochester, New York, the Women’s Studio Workshop in Rosendale, New York, and Centrum in Port Townsend, Washington. I am also the recipient of grants from the Arts Council for Long Beach and the City of Los Angeles. I have been making artist books since 1980 and if you Google my name, you’ll find a number of examples. Every two years, as a founding member of the Mid-City Studio Tour, I open my studio to the public. I was the artist in residence at the Long Beach Public Libraries in the 1980s and later at the Long Beach Museum of Art with grants from the California Arts Council.

What was your experience like this weekend at opening reception?

I was gratified by the attendance and the close attention that visitors paid to the artist books on view. As an artist, I was inspired also by quite a number of the books on view, like Carolee Campbell’s “The Persephones” and Patricia Owen’s book of polymer clay, paper and goatskin, “Dires Erotiques Haikus. It is always best to see the original than to see a photograph of the original.

It is encouraging that handmade books are still in existence in the 21st century. It is a testament to the value of the actual (not virtual) relationship between the artist and the viewer or reader.

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