UW–Madison’s Julie Chen, a professor of book art in the School of Education’s Art Department, was recently featured on Wisconsin Public Radio’s “Wisconsin Today” program in a segment titled, “When Books Become Art.”
In the segment, Chen, an internationally recognized book artist and founder of Flying Fish Press, offers a close up look at how book art is made. She discusses the distinction between “book arts” — which include the crafts of printing, binding, and papermaking — and “book art,” in which artists use the book itself as medium for making art. Artists may use nontraditional structures, Chen explains, so “the reader really has to interact with the book in various ways — they’re not just turning pages but doing other actions in order to find the content.”
Chen also reflects on the importance of physical craft in her creative process. While she uses digital tools in her design work, she is drawn to the tactile aspects of bookmaking — such as printing, binding, and assembly. “The physical object is a really important part of how I understand my work and how it exists in the world, and so the craft elements are a really important part of that,” she explains.
The segment also spotlights Chen’s recent project, “A Monument to What Remains,” a large, box-like artist’s book that invites readers to assemble their own monument. The work includes six books that each unfold in a zigzag pattern, and readers can use a set of acrylic discs to stack and arrange the pieces into a sculptural form.
Chen explains the work was inspired by her reflections on public monuments and whose experiences are commemorated. “I started to really think about who gets to decide what gets memorialized and what doesn’t,” she says. The book’s text focuses on small, often-overlooked experiences and emotions — “little failures and little things that … you wouldn’t get a trophy for.” In the end, the reader can decide how to build and display the monument, shaping both its form and meaning.
Chen has been publishing limited-edition artist books under Flying Fish Press for more than 30 years. Her work is held in major collections, including the Library of Congress, the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Kohler Art Library at UW–Madison.
Listen to the full “Wisconsin Today” segment, “When Books Become Art.”