this is a synopsis so far (11-18-06). Please reply with input/ideas

(Can't) Judge a Book by Its Cover

METAL BOOKS: An Exhibition of the Book as Artifact

Entry date: April 15, 2007-June 16, 2007 (all dates may be revised)

Online Exhibition opening: May 30, 2007

Minnesota Shindig Exhibition Deadline: To be determined

Show dates: To be determined, includes June 16-17, 2007 weekend

Purpose: To explore the concept of encapsulating human imagination through the message of metal. If it looks like a book, reads like a book, feels like a book and swims like a book it may still be other than a book. A physical manifestation of imagination expressed through our common medium: metal. Submitted books shall contain at least one piece of metal and contain pages made of a three dimensional material.

What is an Artist's Book? An Artist's Book may contain words, thoughts, feelings, poems, images, colors, textures, techniques, sounds, items (you name it) etc. that can be bound together in the traditional or non-traditional format of a book. Some of us have expressed our fond memories of books from childhood. Some of us have expressed our emotional ties to bound works whether it be the weight of a paper, the sound of a binding as a new book is opened, or the comfort of becoming enticed into someone else's world through the contents of a book.

Description of Exhibitions:

We will have a private online gallery that will become public in May after all of the virtual images have been uploaded. The moderator of this group has yet to be determined. The online gallery will be linked to a poll and discussion group. All submissions by Artmetal.com members will be accepted. There is no dimension restriction for the online gallery. Image Size: You can upload up to a 2 meg file, but it will be resized by the system to fit a 500 pixel width. The original can still be seen by members, but not the general public.

There will be a physical exhibition in Minnesota during the ArtMetal annual ShinDig. There is already a gallery location secured. The Minnesota Shindig Exhibit will need to be juried if non-Artmetal members are interested in submitting entries. Also, there will be size and weight restrictions (to be determined) for the Minnesota Shindig Exhibit as we will be using someone else's space.

Artmetal Members Thoughts About Books:

"Motivation is to celebrate the book and to express what the essence of "book-ness is to us." VRock

"Books also convey continuity . . . history if you will." Marilyn Smith

"Books can capture time. They communicate..." QQ Vega

"ferrous is more fleeting and paper is downright wispy...one used to learn much from books but now they are just a part of it ... if at all." BP Fink

"I recently learned the history of intaglio print making. Pages of records of imagined patterns for armour. Metal to paper. Maybe one of the first processes to bridge the divide between metal and the book." Industryelle

For more discussion and images of Artist's Books please see the following links:

http://content.otis.edu/collections/artistsbooks.htm http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/Science-and-the-Artists-Book/ http://www.granarybooks.com/books/drucker2/drucker2.html

If you haven't already please fill out the online poll stating your level of interest in our exhibit. http://www.artmetal.com/node/3258

(A big thanks to Elizabeth Meadows for this compilation)