DEADLINE for abstract and ideas - December 14th 2012.

Proposed event will take place in March 20th 2013 at Winchester School of Art, UK.

The book today has been freed of its traditional container of bound printed pages and we now see an interesting dialogue between digital and print-based media. All processes and forms of production are entwined through digital and online mediations of content and interpretation. So what is a book in today’s culture and how have the Web and digital technologies transformed and expanded the book? The becoming digital of the book is not as straightforward as a linear change, but a complex intertwining of technological, aesthetic and cultural habits and tendencies. The book does not just become digital, but the digital becomes book-like with the growth of such platforms that remediate the book such as Kindle, and yet, the book is on some levels disappearing as a physical object.

This one-day conference will explore and examine the current change and transformation of the artist’s book and the connections that exist between the physical and the digital. It is proposed that the event would take place at the Winchester Campus and bring together specialists and scholars from fine art, art history, librarianship, graphic design, literature, and the publishing industry to stimulate a dialogue across disciplines on the transformations of the book.

The main thematic areas covered are the printed and electronic books. Themes and research questions would include: the convergence of traditional craft skills with digital technologies in the making of books; how has the book transformed across space and time; how have artists used new forms of communication to create a different reading experience; and how do we archive and collect in the digital world? Disciplines discussed within this include: typography, printing processes, electronic publishing, text-image relationships, illustration and narrative, motion graphics, sequence and performance, design and navigation for screen, e-book interface design and visual ergonomics.

We are not just looking for academic papers but also exciting workshops, events and happenings.

Please send abstract (up to 100 word summary), images and CV to d.aldred@soton.ac.uk by December 14th 2012