Bill and Vicky Stewart of Vamp & Tramp, Booksellers represent over 250 contemporary fine presses and book artists. "Our concern is with works of art where text (if present) and image/illustration (if present) combine with the physical aspects of the work to trigger the aesthetic experience. What to call these works - fine press books, artists' books, bookworks, sculpture, or simply books - is less important than the experience. In this world books are no longer just a container for information and story. The physicality of the book - the materials, the paper, the structure, how it opens or doesn't open - is an expressive component, just as important as the text and image. In any one book, one or two of these aspects may dominate, but all three contribute in some way.
"We feel that because of the nature of these objects, in order to be appreciated they must not only by seen and read but also handled. You have to play with them in order to appreciate and experience that physical component. No matter how good the catalog, the website, or the exhibition (where the books are usually displayed, for understandable reasons, behind glass with one spread only on view), there is no substitute for actually handling the books. Hence, we spend much of the year taking the works we represent to institutional and private collectors.
"Collecting in this field is no different than collecting anything else. You don't need a lot of money. We represent books that sell for less than $10 (as well as books that sell for over $15,000). You narrow the field or not depending on taste, interest, and budget. If you have wide interests and a big budget, the limits are less restrictive. But for many, the fun is in the restriction. Not surprisingly collecting categories are not much different than in more traditional book collecting. You can collect by subject matter, by structure, by artist category, by high spot.
"Although we think these books are works of art, most differ from more traditional art ¡V paintings, prints, sculptures ¡V in that they are meant for the lap rather than the wall. They require physical interaction on the part of the reader. Hence museums ¡V and galleries -- have a hard time dealing with them. The objects we are interested in share the personal nature of more traditional books. One reader/viewer/manipulator playing with and processing an artifact composed of text, image, and materials to lead to that moment of aesthetic focus."
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~ Bruce McKinney
