Chapter 3 of Amaranth Borsuk’s “The Book” details the relationship between the physicality of the book and it’s content. The book continues to be a way to store information, however the expression behind the content is emphasized. This chapter goes over how many different writers and artists use books to convey messges and promote their artwork through revolutionary ways. At the start of the chapter Borsuk writes, “The clay tablet, papyrus scroll, and codex book each were shaped by the materials at hand and the needs of writers and readers. Those materials in turn shape the content with which such books were filled.” In class, we have discussed the importance of the materiality of the book. Within the pages and fine craftsmanship, there is so much information about the people, culture and regions. Each variation of the book has made a lasting impact on its evolution. There is nothing about the phsyicality of the book that is unimportant. However, in this chapter, Borsuk makes it known that the materiality of the book also alters the content. She introduces “artists’ books” which are books that convey art and defy the conventional expectations of reading a book. These artists use the book as an art medium that further conveys their messages. They play with the page’s layout, formattting, size, and technique in their artists’ books. These artists are pushing the idea of the book to the limits. Borsuk draws attention to Stéphane Mallarmé and his book, “Un Coup de Dés”. In this book, Mallarmé utilizes the space within the pages and format. The format of his book draws subtle attention to the content through which the words are printed to mimic waves. He even uses the book’s gutter to convey distance and divide. His expermental work has become influencial to the poets who came after him who now use format and layout to convery the imagery and meaning of their poems. Mallarmé utilized the physicality of the book in a new way that helped portray his story in a subtle yet clever way.

Further in the chapter, Borsuk highlights the artist, Alison Knowles, and her piece, “The Big Book” in which she uses size and interaction to bring the reader – quite literally – into the book. The reader is able to climb through the pages and explore each scene. This artist book plays with the concept of a codex’s sequential format and challenges the structure of the book. What is fascinating in this artist book is that the reader is not only interacting with the art but has become a crucial component of the book. Reading becomes a full body experience that leaves the message of Knowles’ art open-ended and dependent on how the reader views the art. Both of these artists and the many more referenced in Borsuk’s chapter three utilize the book as an art form that allows them to convey their stories and ideas. The materiality not only gives insight into stories such as region and culture but also pushes the artist’s creativity and ingenuity to the limits. The book is no longer a vessel for information but has become a work of art in its self.