What is the difference between the practice of Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection and the ordinary library? How do you categorize and preserve your collections?

The main library collects books ABOUT art, whereas we collect publications (of all media and formats) that ARE art in and of themselves. We don’t categorize between individual formats within these artists’ publication but catalog them all in the same database and also house and show them together, whether they are material in book form, a pamphlet, a magazine or newspaper, a broadside or poster, a sound or video work, or ephemera, etc. We try to preserve them in that we ask users to wash their hands prior to viewing/reading them, and the material doesn’t circulate.

Due to the nature of the work we collect, patrons cannot take books home with them. However, to make up for this, we try to provide as much access as possible. Instead of physical browsing the cabinets and shelves, people can search our online (very detailed and visual) catalog by title, artist, and thematic keywords as well as information on how the book was made, what materials it was made with, and other descriptors. Because we are situated within the school, we always have students who will drop in and ask questions like “I’m working on a project that involves ___________ and I’m interested in using ___________ material, what do you suggest I look at?” This type of cataloging system allows us to best answer these sorts of questions, by showing people things that relate to their interests, but which they might not have known existed.

Often you will see some of the same work we have in the collection on display in museum vitrines – we take the opposite approach. All of our patrons, whether they are from inside or outside the institution, can walk in during open hours and handle work from the collection, as long as they wash their hands (no white gloves necessary). We do have some works that require a little advanced notice to view, but even these are available to anyone. Because we are so hands-on, we have to accept some regular wear and tear. However, we believe this is necessary if the work is to be handled the way the artists intended – if the work needed to stay out of arm’s reach, the artist would have made a painting or sculpture. We want the books to be used, and eventually some of them will be used up, but until then they’ll have inspired many people to think creatively in their own ways.

What are some of the restrictions or regulations of the use? For instance, is the user allowed to take photo or make a photocopy of the artist’s book?

As mentioned above, our basic rules of handling are that patrons wash their hands, leave their belongings at the front of the room, and use only pencil and loose sheets of paper when handling work from the collection. This may seem like a lot to some, but it’s very minimal when you look at most artists’ book collections & special collections. We do allow visitors to take low-resolution photos of the work (usually with a cell phone) for their own research purposes. No matter what the reproduction method is, we never allow anyone to reproduce a work in its entirety, or in any way that would compromise the artist. We don’t make photocopies of the works.

Who are frequent visitors to the collection?

Students within the school and the surrounding institutions or the entire US, visitors from near and far, the general public, researchers, anyone who wants to. We also host readings, lectures, workshops, group meetings, we go out into the community with a suitcase or two of materials, to get to retirement centers, public high schools, community spaces and non-profit galleries.

The Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection houses over 7,000 artists’ publications. What principles guide your collecting?

Our definition of artists’ books is perhaps broader than most others, and certainly not limited to any subgroup of what we think artists’ publications are. We hold hand-made one-of-a-kind items and offset printed work in unlimited editions. We have many works in the collection that are printed on demand, or take on the production means of mass-printed/distributed material. These books are usually still made in smaller runs than a book produced by a large publisher, but some of the items in our collection were produced in editions of 1,000+. We are interested in works where artists are conceptually involved in the form of the book or multiple (we also collect sound and video recordings, multiples that are more sculptural in nature, as well as digital works) so we do not discriminate against works that are part of larger editions or that do not appear as “handmade”.

This said, we collect works along the curricular interest at the School and along the School’s and library’s mission. That leaves room for a broad variety of material. We are an instructional collection, so for most artists or groups we can only provide samples of their works. However, there are a few artists or presses and publishers where we have fairly comprehensive holdings. We are not particularly interested in book sculptures, graphic prints, or video art because there are other departments within this School and Museum who collect this type of work, but sometimes a print or a video ends up here because it is part of a work, or because we have lots of books by this artist and then want to show other formats of her/his too, so that artists understand they don’t have to limit themselves to any given media form but choose whatever is right for a specific idea and concept.

We also pay attention to what gets produced here at the School by students, staff and faculty, and in Chicago in general.

Some of the collections are vinyl records, cassettes, Floppy disks or even a USB drive; technological development diversified the practice of artist’s book. How has the definition of “artist’s book” changed in a general sense?

We’ve never collected artists’ books. We’ve always collected artists’ publications, which by definition covers a range of media. I am not worried if the item I am interested in is ‘bookish’ enough, or adheres to traditional parameters of binding and sequentiality. I am more worried whether the item I’m about to purchase will be stimulating discussion or not, will be an intelligent addition to the general canon of this type of artistic practice and will add something new to our collection, be it an unexplored topic, a new printing method or constructed solution.

How has technology changed the way of archiving? For example, moving data from primary storage to other media.

We are just trying to wrap our heads around it and are a bit behind when it comes to archiving media. In fact we have already lost access to some, for example or large floppy discs, or the DVD-ROMs of the late 90s. As for web art we only link to URLs. I have a few early examples, when work was simple and not interactive and could still be burned onto a CD, but we have a database of about 1,000 links on our website for users interested in born-digital work. We are in the process of working out a preservation plan for all our library special collections media types of which there are many, especially different audio and video formats.

你認為 Joan Flasch 的藝術家之書收藏與一般的圖書館在運作上有甚麼分別？你會如何分類和保存你的收藏呢？

一般的圖書館只收藏關於藝術的書籍，而我們會收集任何形式或媒介的藝術家出版物。我們不會把這些藝術家不同媒介的個別作品作分類，反而，我們會把它們放在同一個資料庫給予人們翻閱和查看，即便它們是書籍、小冊子、雜誌、報紙，或只是一張海報、一段聲音、一段影片或一隻唱片。為了好好保存這些作品，我們會要求使用者在閱讀這些資料前先洗手，並且避免傳閱它們。

而基於藏品的性質，即使是我們的贊助人也不能把資料帶回家中閱讀。但是，我們會盡量提供更多的傳閱途徑。除了親臨書櫃或書架前尋找資料，人們也可以通過我們的網上目錄，輸入作品的題目、藝術家的名字和關鍵字，或關於這些書籍是如何製造，用什麼材料製造……任何類型的描述。由於我們的圖書館位於校園內，很多時候都會有一些學生走進來問：「我們正在做一個關於＿＿＿報告，想使用＿＿＿資料，你會有甚麼建議呢？這類網上目錄讓我們更妥善地回答這些查詢，展示他們感興趣，但未必知道的一些東西。

很多時候你會在博物館的櫥窗看見一些跟我們收藏相同的作品，而我們的展示方式恰恰相反。所有的贊助人，不論是他們是來自學院或學院以外，只要他們洗手（不須戴手套） 都可以隨時在辦公時間探訪我們和翻閱資料。我們也有一些在翻閱時需要多加注意的作品，即使這樣，它們仍然開放予所有人閱覽，而我們亦接受因手接觸而造成的正常性耗損。我們相信當作品要以藝術家的創作動機來呈現的話這是必然的結果－如果藝術家不想自己的作品被觸摸，他們何不製作一幅油畫或一件雕塑？我們都希望藏書能被使用，縱使它們會被損耗，但在那時侯這些作品已經啟發了很多人用自己的方式創意地去思考。

使用這些資料時有甚麼限制或規則需要遵守？使用者可以拍照或影印資料嗎？

如我之前所言，贊助人需要在翻閱資料前先洗手，把隨身物品放下。在翻閱資料時只可用鉛筆和少量紙張作紀錄。這些聽起來，有些人或許會覺得很繁複，但當你可以翻閱那麼多藝術家的作品和特藏時，你便不會覺得這是一回事。我們也准許使用者拍攝低像素的照片（通常是用手機）作研究用途。無論是用甚麼複製方法，我們都絕不允許任何人把整件作品複製，或使用任何有違藝術家原意的方式。我們亦不會印這些作品。

誰是圖書館的常客？

有的訪客是學校的學生，有的是從附近學校來的;也有從全美國遠至近而來的普羅大眾、研究員……任何想來的人。我們會主持讀書會、講座、工作坊、小組會議；有時也會帶著行李箱或一兩件作品，走入社區，探訪長者中心、公立中學、社區空間和一些非牟利畫廊。

你們收藏了超過7000件藝術家出版物，請問你們是依據什麼準則來收藏的？

我們對藝術家之書的定義或許比其他人廣闊，而且不受制於任何從屬藝術家出版物的想像框架。我們會收藏一些手作的、獨一無二的作品，也有無限量的柯式印刷作品。我們有許多按需印刷或大量印製、派發的藏品。但比大型出版社出版的書籍，這些書通常都是少量印刷的，當然也有一些藏品是印刷量超過一千本的。我們對於藝術家以書本或各種型式作為創作概念的作品都深感興趣，我們的收藏涵蓋聲音、錄像、雕塑、數碼作品，因此我們不排斥任何非手作或大量印刷的作品。

由此說明，我們會根據學校內傳閱的氣氛，以及學校和圖書館的理念作收藏準則，這樣我們可保留更大的空間去吸納不同類型的素材。我們的收藏是教學性的，所以大部分藝術家和團體的作品，我們只能提供範本；但有好幾位藝術家和出版社的出品，我們倒持有相當全面的收藏。我們不會特別收藏雕塑、圖錄或錄像作品，因為已有學校其他部門和博物館收藏這類型的作品。有時候這些作品最終都出現在這裡，是因為它是某作品的其中一部分，又或者是我們已經擁有許多這個藝術家的作品，因此希望展示他／她其他形式的作品。再者，藝術家也明白他們並不需要把自己局限於既定的形式，而是憑著自己的想法和概念去作出選擇。值得一提的是，我們也會留意本校學生、教職員和學院的作品，以至整個芝加哥的創作。

有一些藏品是黑膠唱片、錄音帶、磁碟，又或是一隻USB，科技的進步使藝術家們的作品變得更多元化，而這已經超出了僅僅是一本書的範圍。廣義上來說，你認為「藝術家藏書的定義怎樣隨著時間而改變呢？

我們從沒有收藏「藝術家之書」，我們收藏的是「藝術家的出版物」，從定義上涵蓋不同範疇的媒介。我不擔心我收藏的是不是一本書，又或它在裝幀 次序上是否根據傳統的準則。我比較擔心的是我準備選購的作品，能否引起討論。它是否這類型的藝術實踐以外的明智之選? 它能否為我們的收藏注入生氣？它是否一個未被發掘的議題？一種新的印刷方式或解構方案？

你認為科技怎樣能改變保存資料的方式？例如一手資料傳送到其他的媒介？

在媒體上的檔案保存，我們做的只是嘗試去擁抱科技，但依然落後於它。我們已經再也無法打開某些資料，例如是從前那些很大的磁碟以及九零年代的DVD。至於網上作品，我們僅存網址的連結。一些較早期，相對簡單而且沒有互動元素的作品，尚且可以燒錄成光碟。我們有一超過1000條連結的資料庫給對原始數碼媒體作品有興趣的使用者瀏覽。我們正進行一個保育方案，把圖書館大量媒體類型的特藏都保存下來，特別是不同格式的聲音和錄像作品。