Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Art What We Saw at the NY Art Book Fair
Posted by Corinna Kirsch on Tue, Oct 2, 2012 at 10:15 AM
This weekend, crowds scrambled together to look at all sorts of artists’ books by an international smattering of publishers. MoMA PS1 was the place, the NY Art Book Fair was the event. Small and independent publishers lined their booths glossy coffee table books, cheap zines, and a couple of the larger booths were dotted with smallish limited edition artworks the cost of a motor boat. There were many bright things at the NY Art Book Fair, but with hundreds of booths full of precious things to see, the event easily bordered on mayhem.
Of course, there is some joy to be found rifling through the pages of an unknown author, but really, this is the type of event that requires proper planning. For that reason, we’ve collected some of this year’s trends, highlights, and oddities so you can come back next year with some new knowledge, and maybe some new favorites. Here ya go.
1. Cheap stuff at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Primary Information
Brooklyn’s Primary Information was selling books and takeaways for as little as $1.
2. Expensive stuff at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Bywater Bros. Editions
For $3,000, you could buy a big Plexiglas dollar sign by General Idea.
3. Primary colors at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: A.R.T. Press (Art Resources Transfer)/Paraguay Press
Yup, just like most art fairs, booths were out with colorful, eye-catching stuff.
4. An artist, not a publisher, with a booth at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Aaron Krach
Aaron Krach was selling limited-editions of his “The Author of This Book Committed Suicide” project. For the project, Krach checked out books from the New York Public Library by authors who have committed suicide and then returned them stamped them as “suicide books.” Delightful.
5. Effective pricing at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Pepper's Gallery
Nice, clean price tags are helpful.
6. Nice gimmick at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: 100% Biz LLC / Pet Cemetery Industries / Sex Magazine
Wow, nothing makes me want to buy books like stuffed animals. No, really. They do.
7. Warehouse style stacking at the NY Art Book Fair
Look, we’ll never sell out with this many books!
8. Stuff that's not books for sale at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: KARMA
The West Village’s newest art book store, KARMA had some pretty great, slightly offensive flags for sale.
9. Good advice at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Motto
Bart Simpson once gave the same advice.
10. Stuff I should have bought but didn’t at the NY Art Book Fair
Booth: Primary Information
Yep, I should have bought a ton of things at the NY Art Book Fair, but maybe next year I’ll bring some cash. This book by Elad Lassry is one that got away. It’s also about onions.
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