SOME CURATORIAL REFLECTIONS

ON SECOND SITE

In The Century of Artist Books (2004), Johanna Drucker writes that “If all the elements or activities which contribute to artists’ books as a field are described, what emerges is a space made by their intersection, one which is a zone of activity”. For Second Site, an exhibition based on artists’ book, a further locus has been layered onto this zone of activity, by the instigation of a commonality: All the book works in the exhibition have a particular and unifying distinction in being anchored to, extended from or pivoting around a second, separate artwork or artefact made by the artist. They are, as such, a new (second) site of enquiry springing from the first work.

The idea of imposing this locus came about when Amber Mottram and I, as co-curators, set to work on creating the show. We realised that the idea of an artist book as second site was, in practical terms, by far the strongest connection between our very diverse work, and in particular, between the artworks we planned to include in this exhibition. Although arrived at partly by serendipity, it seemed a sound idea and, exploiting the unusual luxury of being artist/curators, we formed it into the basis for a prompt which, whilst linking our work, also gave us the strong conceptual framework necessary for a coherent exhibition.

We extended an invitation outlining the proposal (shown below) to six artists/collectives whose practices all embraced a strong artist book element, asking them to contribute*. Their wholehearted engagement resulted in this exhibition. All the artworks will be shown in the gallery along with their related books. Ranging from poetry, film and sculpture to sonic and sensory art, photographic work and documentation of trans-continental walking art experiments also figure. This richness of response should lead to the unearthing of some surprising and novel connections, which will hopefully evolve and develop as we hang the show, through dialogue between the artworks, activated in the space.

Writing a couple of weeks before the opening, Second Site seems to be becoming a particularly dynamic creature. This energy might be partly to do with the freshness and diversity of the work, but also, I would suggest, due to a kind of concentration brought about by the imposed structural commonality at its heart, which is in contrast to the more generally thematic programmatic notions often used for group shows.

This proposition will perhaps be explored further, alongside other ideas through an Artist Panel Discussion, with questions and debate between the individual artists, curators and a wider audience, to tease out some of the concerns, connections and consanguinities exposed in the show. Jessica Cochrane, in the Journal of Artist Books (Issue 48, 2019), writes of the acknowledged “discursive legacy” emanating from the field of artist books. It seems possible to hope that this show will contribute to this legacy in some way, and we hope to produce a collaborative artist book to document the show as a kind of post-exhibition publication.

Finally, from my own practice-based research perspective, the process of devising this show has offered some encouraging insight about the generative force of blending curating/writing/making as practice, especially in relation to future ideas around my broader concerns of narrative, found-ness, and authorial input. As something of an outlier, there is a sense of growing empowerment in the face of the baffling gatekeeping of the Art World, whatever that is. I have noticed parallels with the world of exhibition- and theatre-making, which is part creativity, part project management, and almost entirely about team building, openness to learning and connection. Which leads me to express immense gratitude at being so fortunate to work alongside such talented and committed artists in a time and place where we are free and able to make art.

*Footnote: It did not escape our notice that all the artists we invited are women. This was not a conscious decision. However, since historically the artist book developed as a deliberate and subversive means to democratize art, it is perhaps not surprising. Artist books continue to remove power from the grip of institutions and galleries allowing the potential for distribution to a wide audiences. They are inherently political and thus a feminist issue. As a space for discourse, quick, easy production and dissemination (pardon the gendered word) we, as women, can take control. Away from the monumental, the $$$, back to the thoughtful, the playful, the intimate, the relatable. And well away from the kind of dick-swinging you sometimes find in Big Art.

The brief sent to artists:

Our overarching theme is book-works that act as an extension to other artworks (visual, performative or conceptual, for example). We are not looking for artist books that are standalone works in their own right on this occasion.

So, a book as after-form, companion, an echo, an extension, a re-articulation, perhaps? An artist book as second site.

Our idea is that the books might be presented in the gallery alongside the artefacts that they sprang from or inspired (or a trace or fragment thereof), or some form of documentation of it.

Examples would be as follows: a book and an object/a print/ a film/ an artefact/a performance. Not limited to these, of course, and any other ideas you might like to explore with us would be welcome.