Issue One 2011

WNY BOOK ARTS CENTER  by RICHARD KEGLER
The Center contains an art gallery, book and art supply shop, library, and community-use printshop as well as the recent addition of Just Buffalo Literary Center to the second floor. 

Why open an arts center dedicated to the book at a time when the computer has made the printed word and books (as they have been known) on the verge of obsolescence?

The urge to create is a basic human drive.  It is seen throughout world cultures and back to early civilizations where the only record of their existence are the remnants of some aspect of the creative act.  The purpose may not have been ‘self expression’ or art as it is perceived with 21st century hindsight, but regardless, one of the most profound definitions of being human can be seen in the artifacts and objects produced throughout a lifetime.  Communication and expression have been primary factors in the rapid advancement of human knowledge, technology and sense of purpose.

In the early 21st century, an inordinate amount of time is spent on work, leisure, and creative projects on the computer.  The internet has become such a part of daily life that the thought of going without internet access may make many people uncomfortable.  In new forms of art and almost exclusively in design, the computer is seen as the single most essential tool.  Design students often come into their design 101 classes knowing more about computers than their instructors.  The tool of the computer becomes the defining element and unifying factor in almost all design. 
    Sometimes the most effective way to spark creativity is to remove a comfort factor.  No doubt there is still hands-on work being done by designers but the last 500 years of graphic arts practice has become largely redefined in digital analogies of Photoshop, InDesign and illustrator.  The results yielded from the ease of use and accessibility of digital arts continually produce some great things...and often not so great things because of that same ubiquity and ease.  The world of information and communication provided by the internet is unparalleled and possibly the greatest thing since the invention of movable type and printing by Johannes Gutenberg over 500 years ago.  The concern is over what might get lost in the rush.
    Art, Craft, & Design have an interdependence that is often discarded by dogmatic practitioners of “art,” “craft,” or “design.”  These three things are often seen as very different and therefore independent pursuits; however:
    Design without Craft and Art is soul-less mechanics
    Craft without Art and Design is aimless busywork
    Art without Craft and Design is random luck
    Defining each of these relationships would help explain how they differ and how they interrelate and need the others, but however one defines each term–Art, Craft, & Design–there is a need for the other two terms to fully realize one’s potential–whether in visual, literary or audio arts.
    The WNY Book Arts Center has been formed with a variety of functions and goals, all related to the possibilities inherent in the interdependence of Art, Craft & Design.  The reclaimed building now known as WNYBAC in downtown Buffalo seeks to become a permanent fixture in the landscape of the local arts and life by providing access, workshops and outreach to schools, as well as a visible presence on a formerly disused corner of downtown Buffalo.  While a book arts center may seem to be a very niche and narrow interest, it in fact fills a void in the WNY area arts scene and covers a wider range of complementary disciplines that can work in collaboration with many area arts and cultural organizations.  The general interest in the “book arts” is seen by the many book arts centers and community printshops that have opened around the world in recent years. 
    The letterpress printshop that comprises the largest component of WNYBAC contains rescued printing types, inks, paper, and presses from many local printers, which allow visitors to interact and create with very finite yet very important tools.  This presents a contrast to the limitless options in computer based graphic arts.  Buffalo, at one time, had more printers per capita than any other US city.  Over the last 20 years many have closed and discarded their equipment due to “desktop publishing” and a change in the way customers use printers and printing.  Letterpress printing has gained a resurgence over the last few years as a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) craft that can be done in a small home studio, and now the equipment that was being sold for scrap is demanding premium prices.  This is still a relatively small movement, but the heavy impression on a thick card stock for a wedding invitation or a distressed woodtype poster for a music event still incite a visceral response from those who are not interested in the process of production. 
    The rush to transform the delivery of the printed word via the internet and ebooks has some practical and worthy goals; however, the connection to the physical, the tactile, remains an important matter.  Aside from the fact that long term digital storage has yet to be proven, (while the books printed hundreds of years ago remain accessible without the need for storage devices or electricity) the physical object cannot be fully substituted by the digital.  In the graphic arts, the historical terminology remains on computer applications, but the physical engagement with both the processes and the limitations of hand set type and hand printing can provide a fresh perspective to those who have become dependent on the computer.  The legacy of the book as a physical object with expressions by authors, artists, designers & craftspeople is key in the advancement of the modern world as we know it.
    From this perspective, opening a center dedicated to the book and its physicality is possibly the most important thing that could be done right now.

    The WNY Book Arts Collaborative is a 501 (c) 3 not for profit corporation.  The WNY Book Arts Center is located at 468 Washington St, Buffalo NY 14203  www.wnybookarts.org