ABC Artists' Books Cooperative
Encyclopedia
ABC Artists’ Books Cooperative is an international network created by and for artists who make print-on-demand books. Founded in 2009 by German artist Joachim Schmid
, the cooperative participates in book fairs and exhibitions predominantly in Europe and North America, and has been at the heart of a number of shows heralding a new age of photography and of artists' self-publishing projects.
Their manifesto reads:
ABC has gathered attention for its embracing of print-on-demand technology, an approach that runs counter to traditional offset printing
and book publishing models in which artists can incur prohibitive costs.
, Martin Parr
, Erik Kessels, Joan Fontcuberta
and Clément Chéroux at Les Rencontres d'Arles. ABC members Mishka Henner, Hermann Zschiegner, and Andreas Schmidt featured prominently in the show with print-on-demand books by them and those of Fred Free, Katja Stuke, Lydia Moyer, and Jonathan Lewis also on display in the Atelier de mécanique exhibition space.
The cooperative also featured in a self-titled exhibition at Printed Matter in New York between 2 and 30 June 2011. Over 80 titles were on view by ABC members Andrea Stultiens, Andreas Schmidt, Böhm/Kobayashi, Burkhard von Harder, David Schulz, Deanna Dikeman, EJ Major, Elisabeth Tonnard, Erik Benjamins, Fred Free, Harvey Benge, Hermann Zschiegner, Jean Keller, Joachim Schmid, Jochen Friedrich, Jonathan Lewis, Joshua Deaner, Julie Cook, Kate Glicksberg, Lydia Moyer, Mariken Wessels, Michael Maranda, Mishka Henner, Robert Pufleb, T. R. Ericsson, Travis Shaffer, Victor Sira, and Wil van Iersel. During the exhibition, a panel discussion took place between ABC members Hermann Zschiegner, Victor Sira, and David Schulz, and the founder of Self Publish, Be Happy, Bruno Ceschel which included the topics of Print-on-Demand, Self-publishing, and Photobooks.
Joachim Schmid
Joachim Schmid studied Visual Communication at and Berlin University of the Arts from 1976 to 1981. He is a Berlin based artist who has worked with found photography since the early 1980s. He began his career as a freelance critic and the publisher of , an iconoclastic and original contribution to...
, the cooperative participates in book fairs and exhibitions predominantly in Europe and North America, and has been at the heart of a number of shows heralding a new age of photography and of artists' self-publishing projects.
Their manifesto reads:
- We are diverse but we collaborate. We don’t have a dogma but we know what we want. We work, we play, we dream, we imagine, we explore, we collect, we photograph, we draw, we write, we copy, we paste, we design, we edit, and we make books. Slow and spontaneous, small and excessive, serious and funny. We print on demand and we self-publish, self-determined, self-empowered, unfiltered.
ABC has gathered attention for its embracing of print-on-demand technology, an approach that runs counter to traditional offset printing
Offset printing
Offset printing is a commonly used printing technique in which the inked image is transferred from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface...
and book publishing models in which artists can incur prohibitive costs.
Exhibitions
In 2011, a significant number of artists from the cooperative participated in the From Here On exhibition, curated by ABC founder Joachim SchmidJoachim Schmid
Joachim Schmid studied Visual Communication at and Berlin University of the Arts from 1976 to 1981. He is a Berlin based artist who has worked with found photography since the early 1980s. He began his career as a freelance critic and the publisher of , an iconoclastic and original contribution to...
, Martin Parr
Martin Parr
Martin Parr is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take a critical look at aspects of modern life, in particular provincial and suburban life in England...
, Erik Kessels, Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta
Joan Fontcuberta is a conceptual artist whose best-known works, such as Fauna and Sputnik, examine the truthfulness of photography. In addition, he is a writer, editor, teacher, and curator....
and Clément Chéroux at Les Rencontres d'Arles. ABC members Mishka Henner, Hermann Zschiegner, and Andreas Schmidt featured prominently in the show with print-on-demand books by them and those of Fred Free, Katja Stuke, Lydia Moyer, and Jonathan Lewis also on display in the Atelier de mécanique exhibition space.
The cooperative also featured in a self-titled exhibition at Printed Matter in New York between 2 and 30 June 2011. Over 80 titles were on view by ABC members Andrea Stultiens, Andreas Schmidt, Böhm/Kobayashi, Burkhard von Harder, David Schulz, Deanna Dikeman, EJ Major, Elisabeth Tonnard, Erik Benjamins, Fred Free, Harvey Benge, Hermann Zschiegner, Jean Keller, Joachim Schmid, Jochen Friedrich, Jonathan Lewis, Joshua Deaner, Julie Cook, Kate Glicksberg, Lydia Moyer, Mariken Wessels, Michael Maranda, Mishka Henner, Robert Pufleb, T. R. Ericsson, Travis Shaffer, Victor Sira, and Wil van Iersel. During the exhibition, a panel discussion took place between ABC members Hermann Zschiegner, Victor Sira, and David Schulz, and the founder of Self Publish, Be Happy, Bruno Ceschel which included the topics of Print-on-Demand, Self-publishing, and Photobooks.