Canberra is, in many ways, a bookish city, not the least because of its material book history. Having discovered an historical ‘moment’ when two book cultures intersected and acculturated in Canberra in the mid-1980s, I’m going to look at the effect of that moment for material book practices both within Canberra and in Australia generally. I suggest that, after a long period of decline following the rapid uptake of digital desktop publishing, the time is ripe for a renaissance of the material book in Canberra.
Caren Florance
Dr Caren Florance often works under the imprint Ampersand Duck. She is a writer, designer and visual artist whose practice uses a range of digital and analogue processes, including traditional letterpress and bookbinding to focus on the book and the printed word. Her work is positioned in the Venn space between text art and visual poetry. Her doctoral research at the University of Canberra investigated material poetics, poetic collaboration and the artists’ book; she is a member of the UC Centre for Creative and Cultural Research and a sessional teacher at UC and the ANU School of Art & Design. Her creative output has been collected by national and international institutions, mostly by libraries. Her website is https://carenflorance.com
Crotch #9 - Downloadable Zine
