As the technology for making a book is now widely available, and the cost of making a book has dropped to a level of affordability, more artists and independent publishers are producing artists' books. However, these self-publishers often have no distribution network for their production. Regency Arts Press Ltd. has created OPEN BOOK as a service to address this need.
Artists who work in book form and independent publishers are invited by Regency Arts Press Ltd. to share their production and process by submitting their book to be included in this online interactive catalog. OPEN BOOK will then target a broad range of audiences including art book curators, vendors, publishers and critics, in addition to artists, dealers and other interested viewers.
Regency will not be involved in selling or distributing these books; rather, the OPEN BOOK catalog will function as an agent or intermediary by gathering and curating the material, assertively marketing it to a focused audience of book professionals, and fostering connections between interested parties and the self-publishers. The catalog will be easily accessible and searchable by a wide variety of factors (i.e. theme, size, materials, etc.). Should anyone be interested in contacting the artist directly, Regency will provide to the interested party all necessary contact information.
An open call for possible inclusion in OPEN BOOK was held this past October at the X Initiative in Chelsea; reviewing books at that event were:
- David Senior, Bibliographer, Museum of Modern Art
- Deirdre Lawrence, Principal Librarian, Brooklyn Museum of Art
We hope to be holding OPEN BOOK open call events in other cities throughout 2010.
The OPEN BOOK database will be launching in Spring 2010!
