“The book is like the spoon, the hammer, the wheel, or the scissors, once invented, it cannot be improved. You cannot make a spoon that is better than a spoon.” “The book has been thoroughly tested, and it’s very hard to see how it could be bettered. Perhaps it will evolve in terms of components; perhaps the pages will no longer be made of paper. But it will still be the same thing.” In his book titled N’espérez pas vous débarrasser des livres, semiotician Umberto Eco compared a “book” to a corkscrew and a lemon squeezer. He argued that these kinds of objects have been consummated at the very moment of invention. Its structure will not be altered even though it is slightly modified or innovated in terms of design.

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Nonetheless, as a significant invention in human civilization, the “book” has undergone major reforms in every aspect. It evolved from scroll to paged manuscript in terms of “form,” from bamboo slip and stone implement to paper in terms of “medium,” from the industrialization of book production in the 19th century to the emergence of publishing house in terms of “production-marketing model,” from the invention of Xerox to Print-on-Demand technology in terms of the “electronic revolution.” E-reader is substituted for paper as the reading interface thanks to the advances in “digital technology,” and online community changes the previous communication approach in the way of information sharing. The books we read are the survivors from censorship and challenges of all stripes. Although digital technology drastically transforms our reading experiences, we are rather inclined to recognize with the language familiar to us. We describe e-reader as “e-book,” and online database as “library.” Whereas people have talked ad nauseam about the “eventual demise of the book,” art book fairs around the globe have mushroomed in a denser and more diverse manner since 2010. The catastrophic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ushered in a worldwide lockdown in 2020, leaving many art book fairs with no choice but to “go virtual” — How can we “read” when book fairs supposed to peddle “physical books” are held virtually online?

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The book will show different potentials in the eyes or hands of different people. This project treats Taipei as the point of departure. I interviewed a total of 18 groups of practitioners who have undertaken “book”-related endeavors, be they creation, exhibition, editing, curating, publishing, teaching, or research. The roles of these practitioners are vaguely defined, and they tend to achieve their objectives on an ad hoc basis. In order to outline this cultural phenomenon without compromising the interviewees’ original thoughts, I held all the interviews under similar procedures, including self-introduction, book-related practice, idea about the books they made, way of exhibition, as well as comparison between digital and analog media. The different types of book—zine, artist’s book,[1] and photobook—frequently appeared in the interviews were not intended to classify them into specific genres but to designate them with lower case, insofar as to reveal the creative demand and cultural imagination behind these appellations in the interview process.

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Besides, from the interviewees’ discourses, I noticed that their ideas echo one another and even manifest a greater cultural phenomenon. As a result, this book is not a collection of interviews as such, although “interview” serves as its key strategy. This book juxtaposes quotations and the interview transcripts with page numbers beside the text. The purpose of this approach is not so much to make annotations as to afford mutual reference that ignites the readers’ imagination. The readers are allowed to flip through the book in a linear fashion, select the chapters that kindle their interest, simply read the quotations, browse the book according to the page numbers beside the texts, and even scribble notes in the blank spaces at will, just like the exchange among different, juxtaposed books on the bookcase that occupies an entire wall in a library or a bookstore, or the encounter with a favorite book that has many resonances for the reader simply by looking at the book cover or browsing it.

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In sum, this is a book about “book.” It shows the profile of the intricate “book culture” in Taipei around 2020. This book will be printed in paperback and appear in a limited edition through self-publishing for the collection by libraries and related institutions. The full text will be available as a downloadable e-book that constitutes a source of reference for future research and creation.[2]

 

[1] In the Chinese language context, no clear consensus exists in the translation of the term “artist’s book.” It literally translates as “the book owned by the artist,” which not only emphasizes that the “book” (work) belongs to the “artist” (creator), but also echoes the significant idea of “concept preceding artwork” since Marcel Duchamp. Another translation is “artist’s book of creation,” which treats the book as the approach of “creation” and suggests that the “book” is “created” by the “artist.” “Artist’s hand-made book” is a common translation in China. It highlights the artificial intervention of handicraft and distinguishes between artist’s book and digital book from the perspective of arts and crafts. Other translations like “artist book” and “artist’s work” further reflect the openness and fluidity of the connotation of artist’s book. In order to retain the interviewees’ intonation, this book will not rephrase the ways they called artist’s book, so as to faithfully represent the interviewees’ voices on the one hand, and reveal their understanding and discussion about artist’s book on the other. (I owe a debt of gratitude to Yin-Chin Tsai from the PAPER MATTER Artists’ Books Archive for his help with the Chinese translation of artist’s book).

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[2] This book will appear in a limited edition of 100 through self-publishing as a contribution to libraries and the literature on related issues. The full text will be available as a downloadable file from the website: tw-chuyinhua.com/book-phenomenon.

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text translated by Sheng-Chih Wang

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     Image & Text/ YinHua CHU

     Editor/ YuChang SHENG

     Assistance/ WenYu LI

     Book Design/ BoHsin CHIEN

     Photography/ WeiHsuan CHEN