The multiple lives of a blank book

The multiple lives of a blank book is a cross-cultural tale of bookness, blankness and multiplicity, bringing the cinematic genre of documentary fiction to the printed page.

Fifty contributors were provided with a blank book to use as a symbol, tool or prop for conducting and documenting experimental enactments. The resulting story – a sequence of deeds, episodes, tableaus and vignettes – seeks to reveal as much about the zeitgeist as it does about the book.

Over 200 photographs are presented alongside texts including an essay on blank books encompassing histories of book arts, conceptual art and cinema by Federico Antonini, notes on the role of documentation in contemporary publishing by Darius Ou Dahao, reflections on the Philippine's counterfeit textbook market by Clara Lobregat Balaguer, tips for hiding valuables in books by Per Törnberg, a manifesto for elevating graphic design by Masaki Miwa, and a new poem by John Freeman.

The edition was collaboratively designed and produced during a ten-day workshop in London on transdisciplinary inquiry and publishing. Participants of the workshop undertook research into practices of documentary fiction, social sculpture and post-digital publishing to devise a hybrid reading experience that blends communication techniques from the fields of art, design and theory.

Published in parallel with But now space was part of the object¹ (Zyxt and Booksfromthefuture, 2015).

Contributors:
Luigi Amato, Federico Antonini, Joana Chicau, Hyunho Choi, Cecilia Denti, Matheus de Paula, Neil Donnelly, Rafaela Drazic, Spassky Fischer, John Freeman, Simon Goode and Ira Yonemura, Luana Graciano, Kristian Henson, Thomas Hervé, David Horvitz, Helge Hjorth Bentsen, Eric Hu, Hirofumi Isoya, River Jukes-Hudson, Tomoko Kawai, Ayse Koklu, Sean Kuhnke, Marie Lécrivain, Jen Lee, Clara Lobregat Balaguer, Corbin Mahieu, Claude Marzotto, Esa Matinvesi, Rita Matos, Kevin McCaughey, Niko Mihaljevic, Masaki Miwa, Jangs Müller, Jan Novák, Jozef Ondrik, Darius Ou Dahao, Pimeriko, Kasper Pyndt, GaEun Ryu, Ryo Shimizu, Soji Shimizu, Ying Tong Tan, Per Törnberg, Joseph Townshend, Risa Tsunegi, Ghazaal Vojdani, Seiko Watanabe, Lena Wurz, Makoto Yamada, Nobuo Yoda

Editors: Yvan Martinez and Joshua Trees with Krister Olsson

Design: Joana Chicau, Cecilia Denti, Matheus de Paula, Luana Graciano, Yvan Martinez, Claude Marzotto, Krister Olsson, Kevin McCaughey, GaEun Ryu, Joshua Trees, Lena Wurz

First edition
Print on demand
292 pages
107.95mm x 174.752mm (4.25 x 6.88 inches)
Softcover
English
ISBN 978-0-9573509-3-9