The chosen set
10 books on the library shelf, in the Dewey subject area: 759 Painting by Geography .994 Australia
Australian Painting
A topic I don’t know well but am geographically connected to as I was born and raised in Australia.
I made a spreadsheet, you can see here, of the data I collected.
Initial notes from studying the set
Different components are books, details of them below.
They are similar as they all have the base form of a book:
A spine, fore edge, head, tail, cover front and back and pages between.
They are different in that each has its own specific characteristics to those aspects of the book, different bindings, different print techniques, different page formats, page counts
They are all designed differently, not only in style but also in the underlying format of the publication; some are large reference books, some are small exhibition catalogues, some include art history texts, some include more contemporary art critique, some are project based closer to an artists’ book.
They all hold different content, though related by the Dewey subject area: 759 Painting by Geography .994 Australia = Australian Painting 759.994
There is the grammar of books as a means of knowledge distribution and the grammar of the dewey decimal system and the rules of library usage.
Patterns
The books are published either in the UK and few in Australia.
The books span a publication timeframe from 1972-2016 with most of the books being published between 1985-2000
Every monograph is for a male painter.
Only one monograph is for an Indigenous painter
There are 2 books on Aboriginal painting, both edited by non-indigenous art writers/curators
There are 2 collections on Australian Contemporary Painting, one from 1990, one from 2000, the organisation of each book is very different one breaks down into themes, one of which is Aboriginal Art, the other breaks down into artists, Aboriginal and non-indigenous alike.
Possible experiments with new catalogues
Simple: by size, as volume and a secondary factor as age, smallest first, newest first. How could I represent that? Put them back on the shelf this way and photograph them?
By categorising/tagging layers of information, how to visualise that?
Types of publication: catalogue, reference book, artist monograph
Published for: exhibition, research, promotion
Published in: UK, Australia
Types of internal paper: uncoated, silk coated, matte coated
Types of binding: case, pamphlet, perfect
Grade them by how I interpret a sample of discourse in each: will need to come up with the questions as I read.
Does the book imply white supremacy? How do they acknowledge the spiritual and cultural value of first peoples (not as their cash cow)?
Slides from presentations
Week 1 — DOWNLOAD PDF
Week 2 (final) — DOWNLOAD PDF
Website catalogue
See the website (prototype) I built around the chosen set.
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