THE HYBRID BOOK CONFERENCE

Two Registration Deadlines: (RECEIVE)
before December 18, 2008
after December 18, 2008

THE HYBRID BOOK CONFERENCE
An International Book Arts Conference and Fair
The University of the Arts
Philadelphia PA
June 4-6, 2009


THE HYBRID BOOK CONFERENCE will bring together established and emerging artists, scholars, librarians and educators to explore a variety of topics in a series of eight panels. The final event will be on Saturday evening, a dinner and a critical response to the conference and fair by Roberta Fallon and Libby Rosof of artblog.

Panels Include:

BOOK ARTS IN ACADEMIA
This panel will explore the unifying factors that help to define book arts as a locus of study and practice within the academy.

BOOK ART IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE
The artist’s book most often finds its audience via Special Collections or the gallery, but what happens when the artist’s book is put in the hands of the people by other means? Panelists will discuss alternative modes of both production and distribution that bring the artist’s book to different audiences and engage the book format as a vehicle for social change.

THE FUTURE OF LETTERPRESS
What is the future of letterpress printing? Panelists will discuss the function of letterpress in contemporary art and the hybrid book, as well as how the advent of digital processes has affected and will continue to affect letterpress.

INTERSECTION + INTERMEDIA
Several artists will present projects that elevate the artist’s book beyond its basic form by using it as a tool to explore installation, performance, research, education, historical and digital processes, sound, interactivity, and more.

MODES OF PRODUCTION: COLLABORATIVE PROCESSES
The complexity of the artist’s book often makes collaboration desirable or even necessary in producing sophisticated work that encompasses text, image, structure, and a high level of craft. Panelists will discuss multiple approaches to engaging collaborative relationships in both the conceptual and material processes of creating an artist’s book.

OFFSET APPLICATIONS: THEN AND NOW
What was the appeal of the offset book that made it desirable enough for artists to open their own print shops? With the introduction of self-publishing on-demand websites like Lulu and Blurb, the future of these presses is uncertain. Panelists will discuss what brought them to the process years ago, as well as the future of the medium.

THE RECIPROCITY OF BOOKS AND DIGITAL MEDIA
While digital tools have changed the face of book arts, the book itself has been alluded to throughout electronic media. Panelists will discuss the potential of digital technologies to become a book arts related medium.

TEXT AND THE HYBRID BOOK
Focusing on the importance of writing as a practice and form, this panel discussion will explore text in the hybrid book: as a source material or generative process, a narrative journey for both the maker and the viewer, and a destination that brings the book into conversation with other art forms.

Visit website for complete details: http://www.hybridbook.org/conference.htm.

Registration/Table fees outlined in the registration form. (see below)

TO PARTICIPATE in the Hybrid Book Conference and/or Fair, please download and print the registration form, and send, with payment, to:

Hybrid Book c/o MFA Book Arts Program
The University of the Arts
320 South Broad Street
Philadelphia, PA 19102

Please be sure to include your email address, as confirmation upon receipt of payment will be sent via email. Questions can be directed to hybridbook@yahoo.com.

Alumni of the MFA Book Arts/Printmaking program, please visit the UArts MFA Book Arts/Printmaking website for further information.