Holland Cotter has an inspiring review of the NY Art Book Fair in Saturday’s New York Times. His piece titled Art Between Covers, on Walls and in Your Hands is a refreshing reminder that there is still life in books.
“A book in a store is worth 20 on a Web site,” is how he begins his story. Cotter then gives us three good reasons why the book in a public space experience is vital to the health of our culture:
1- “you can check out the book’s contents and condition without buying.”
It doesn’t matter how good a return policy the e-tailer’s have you still don’t get a chance to inspect the merchandise before you buy it. Unheard of behavior in the annals of capitalism.
2- “chances are good that there are other books to look at nearby.”
Serendipity is severely restricted in the current model of online bookselling, the “if you liked that book you will like this book” algorithm is often times insulting and off the mark.
3- “chances are equally good that there are other shoppers in the vicinity, providing a social experience with your browsing.”
The act of buying a book in your bathrobe is as isolating as it is convenient.
The book fair is produced by Printed Matter, a not for profit but for artists and books company, whose “organizational intelligence” allows the fair to feature a broad slice of the book spectrum. At this fair there is room for both the big commercial publishers and distributors and the small independent publishers and artists. There are non-new books and book arts. It is a place for all book people and it is thriving. In this the second year of the fair there are more than 50% more exhibitors than last year and they are coming for all over the country and the world to take part.
This is exciting.