Spoonfed interview by Tom Jeffreys , January 2010
Artists' books aren't like normal books. But, in some ways, they're not like normal art either. Tom Jeffreys speaks to Victoria Browne at Kaleid Editions to find out more.
“This is the second interview I've done today, actually,” explains Victoria Browne: “The first was down at the police station.” Fret ye not however, I'm not interviewing some criminal; I'm at Kaleid Editions – a small gallery/bookshop on Redchurch Street in Shoreditch – chatting to the artist and gallerist whose brainchild this is. Apparently some fellow tried to run off with their money box at the last Private View, but Victoria chased him down!
Although Kaleid Editions opened in September 2009, I first came across it a couple of weeks back whilst on one of the wonderful Artfeelers tours around galleries and studios in the local area. That day, I actually bought two books from Kaleid – a novel by the angry man of psychogeography, Stewart Home, and an exquisite, charming, calming little adventure of a black pop-up book(let) by Victoria herself. [below]
The whole place is so fascinating – there's such an array of forms and fonts, texts, textures, and techniques. So I returned ahead of the opening of Jonathan Ward's forthcoming exhibition to find out more about Kaleid Editions and the concept of the artist's book. Basically, an artist's book is a work of art made by an artist, but (more or less – often less) in book form: “If it's a more sculptural piece,” Victoria explains, “it might not look like a bound book as we know it.” What it's not is one of those big glossy coffee table books you might pick up in the bookshop of the ICA or at Gagosian: it's something made – often laboriously, and with love – by the artist.
Victoria Browne, 'Dark Matter'
Victoria is an artist who produces artist's books like these (as well as installations, engravings and prints). After completing an MA at the Centre for Fine Print Research at the University of the West of England, Victoria worked at bookartbookshop and recently exhibited work at the V&A's Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green. She currently shares a print studio near London Fields and is in the midst of a two-year residency at Middlesex University.
It was this experience that led to the formation of Kaleid Editions. “Artists' books fall into an odd realm: they don't really fit into White Cube spaces, as they're often too small. Kaleid is an opportunity to show this type of art in the right setting, which is in a gallery. People come in to see the work and appreciate it, rather than where artists' books are usually shown – in a bookshop, with many, many different books all crammed in together. Some might be behind glass vitrines – then you know they're the expensive ones, because you can't touch them! But the whole point about a book is that it's physical, it's tactile – you want to pick it up. An artist's book can really be an exhibition in itself.”
Samantha Huang, 'Read Between the Lines'
Working with artists who often haven't produced an artist's book before, Kaleid Editions aims to open up this fascinating sub-genre to new audiences: like collectors who may never have thought of artists' books before. A programme of book launches and free drop-in workshops is also attracting a new audience, intrigued by this art form, that can be at once accessible, anarchic and remarkably intimate.
Forthcoming projects at Kaleid look set to continue this exciting trajectory: March sees a month of performance-related work, whilst April sees an exhibition by the renowned Fraser Muggeridge Studio co-curated by rising young artist's book star Samantha Huang, whose painstakingly cut apart book [above] is my probably my favourite thing in the gallery right now).
