Printed books are about to undergo the same transition that hit painting when photography became popular and widely available in the late 19th century.
At the advent of photography, painting lost a lot of what had made it a viable career, and also seemed to be outdone by the verisimilitude of photography's perfect simulacrums of people in the form of portraits. If some normal person can guarantee you a perfect and lifelike portrait, why do you need an artist?
This sent painting into the identity crisis we call Modernism, and all of its sub-movements, and the denial of picture, image, and eventually object. Which can be seen as a narrative of painting trying to find the place where only it could exist and have value. Eventually we reach Danto's
Well I think McSweeneys Quarterly Concern is the first (wonderful) symptom of a Neo-Modernism of the Printed book, and it foretells all the identity issues, deconstruction, reconstruction, destruction, and reinvention that the photograph meant to painting. When you get a book of short stories and it comes in the form of a batch of misdelivered mail, or folds out and has a playing card and hair comb you can view that as inventive, but you can not dismiss the possibility of a reaction.
If McSweeneys is the symptom, then the Kindle
I predict an exciting and interesting reinvention of the printed book over the course of the next decade. It will have similarities to other reactionary movements like Modernism, or the British Arts and Crafts movement, and the world wide current DIY scene.
I would like to hear from you about this issue.
-Bill
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Neo-Books
Posted by Bill Donovan at 11:17 PM
Labels: "vast murmurous gloom of dreams", books, digital books, kindle, modernism, neo books, Painting
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4 comments:
I just wrote an article for a local paper about the kindle and referenced McSweeney's as well. The publishing company understands that it is not just about the words but also the presentation. I foresee that as the Kindle becomes more popular and electronic books become the norm, then the printed book will become much more cherished by true literary enthusiasts. One day we will find solace in the bookstores where people gather and understand how a book should be read and made just as it is magical to walk into an old record store and still find passionate people rummaging through music in its tangible form.
- Sarah
wearealwaysalwaysmortal.blogspot.com
Sarah,
Thanks for your comment, and I think it is interesting that we were both considering McSweeney's Quarterly Concern and the Kindle in the same context.
-Bill
Symptoms can't precede causes, can they? Anyway, your analogy is a little false.
Painting and photography were about craft and technique in addition to medium. Painting's much more married to imagination and expression, not being held back by mechanical constraints.
By the time it's ready to be published, writing's already dry. In this post, you're just talking about different distribution media.
Hey Phil, thanks for the comments.
I think I was right, not so surprisingly. You missed the thesis of the post, which is:
I wasn't empasising the relationship between painting and photography, and then books and the kindle to make a point about what painting, photography, or writing "is." I was writing the post to say that I anticipate a reinvention of the printed book as a reaction to the Kindle (and, in retrospect, the internet).
I think this will be an exciting time for bibliophiles like myself, and look forward to finding books that reinvent what a book is, and printed book makers beoming more conscious of the craft and design of the books they produce.
Thanks for reading,
Bill
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