About

Project Space and presenting partner Fillip host the first annual Vancouver Art/Book Fair. Drawing from publishers local and international, VA/BF showcases emerging practices and contemporary dialogues in publication through a series of talks, book launches, readings and more, as well as more than seventy publishers of books, magazines, zines and printed ephemera.

VA/BF arose in response to the lack of international art book fairs in Canada and on the West Coast, as well as in acknowledgment of the rich history and current energy in artist publishing in Vancouver and Canada.

VA/BF is an extension of Project Space's mission to act as a platform for engagement with and critical exploration of publication. Situated at an intersection of disciplines—namely the visual arts, literary arts and/or critical design—publication presents a unique space of inquiry that is often complemented by interdisciplinary practice, collaboration or co-production. With this in mind, the fair will explore publication in a way that is inclusive of dialogues in the visual and literary arts, as well as graphic design.

Schedule

Reception

Friday, October 5 at 8pm
Project Space, 222 E Georgia Street
Free admission
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A social event for exhibitors and the public the night before the Vancouver Art/Book Fair. This event also doubles as the Opening Reception for Project Space and Art Metropole's co-production the Wandering Art Metropole Publications and Ephemera Archive: Part 2.

The Wandering Art Metropole Publications and Ephemera Archive: Part 2 will bring a selection of Art Metropole’s archive to Vancouver from October 5 to November 18. Materials will be displayed on support structures created by artist Shane Krepakevich. Over the course of the project, Vancouver-based leannej and Spoox Audiozine will interact with the archive in various ways, introducing their understandings, arrangements and interpretations of the materials.

Day One: Book fair and Symposium

Saturday, October 6 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Vancouver Art Gallery, 750 Hornby Street
Free admission
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A book fair and symposium in the Vancouver Art Gallery Annex featuring books, magazines, zines and printed ephemera by more than seventy local, national and international publishers (schedule of events below). Free coffee provided by Ethical Bean. Free VA/BF tote bag with SWAG provided in part by our sponsors.

1:00 PM
Presentation and Exhibition: WDWDNNWW by Palimpsest: Montreal-based Palimpsest collective members Danielle St-Amour and William Briscoe will introduce WDWDNNWW, an anthology of edited texts from artists and writers collectively discussing time, politics and radical aesthetics. The project is born from consideration of the phrase WHAT DO WE DO NOW, NOW WE WAIT. Functioning at a contemplative distance from direct political activity, the publications interrogate the interplay between aesthetic ideals and historical action. An exhibition of the project in intermediary stages will also be on display throughout the day.; —
Palimpsest is a collaborative framework and an experiment in publication development and research. Acting as an editorial board/curatorial body, it sources historical texts and commissions new work based around an abstract proposition. The resulting anthology in each case is interwoven into an exhibition, either in the form of publication, installation, multimedia presentation or a heterogeneous "issue" of the magazine.

2:00 PM
Book Launch: Fallow by Germaine Koh: Hot off the press from the Charles H. Scott Gallery and ECU Press, Germaine Koh's Fallow focuses on a monumental work by the artist in which a fallow field is dug up and replanted in the gallery. The book contains essays by Cate Rimmer, Lisa Robertson and the artist.; —
The Charles H. Scott Gallery is a public art gallery dedicated to the presentation of contemporary art. It is located within the Emily Carr University of Art + Design on Granville Island.; ECU Press presents the work of emerging Vancouver-based artists alongside international artists by publishing artists’ books, monographs, collected writings and music projects.

4:00 PM
Discussion: Is printing on demand really only just adding water?: Kathy Slade (Publication Studio, Vancouver), Brian Kennon (2nd Cannons Publications, Los Angeles) and Eva Weinmayr (AND, London) explore the potential and limitations of print-on-demand publishing. Looking at current examples that utilize the conceptual and creative possibilities of this specific mode of production, this informal discussion will share practicalities, knowledge and anecdotes around print-on-demand publishing and distribution.; —
Publication Studio prints and binds books on demand, creating original work with artists and writers they admire.; 2nd Cannons Publications is an artists' book publishing project by LA-based artist Brian Kennon.; AND Publishing is a platform for exploring print-on-demand technologies in order to publish conceptually-driven artists' books.

6:00 PM
Lecture: Charlotte Cheetham of Manystuff: French curator and publisher of Manystuff Charlotte Cheetham will discuss her recent projects, including two in Vancouver: her residency at the Emily Carr University Library and her project for Fillip’s Print Centre during Institutions by Artists.; —
Charlotte Cheetham's publications, and the exhibitions she has curated in Europe and internationally, explore contemporary issues in graphic design and art and act as thought spaces for experimental inquiry. Manystuff.org, the blog she has run since 2006, proposes one possible reflection of a landscape and promotes a contemporary, adventurous and transversal practice of graphic design.; Her practice, constantly redefined, is based on an experimental approach embodied in publishing experiences, in exhibition moments and in a flow of information over the Internet. Working on interpretation and reinterpretation, she is interested in the thinking process–multi-disciplinary, poetic, experimental and surprising–that leads to the final "form."

Day Two: Event Series

Sunday, October 7 from 12:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Multiple venues (see below)
Free admission
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A series of events featuring conversations with and performances by local and international publishers, artists, graphic designers and writers.

12:00 PM
In Conversation with Brian Kennon of 2nd Cannons Publications
@ Motto Vancouver, 555 Hamilton Street: Fillip and Motto Vancouver host a conversation with Brian Kennon, founder of 2nd Cannons Publications, an LA-based artists' book publishing project.; —
Brian Kennon is a Los Angeles-based artist and the publisher of 2nd Cannons Publications, through which he has published books by Williams E. Jones, Darren Bader, Bruce Hainley, David Horvitz, Bob Nickas and others.

2:00 PM
Showing & Telling
@ The Nines, 99 W Pender Street: Newly formed Vancouver-based independent publisher S/T Press (Show & Tell Press) will introduce and discuss their inaugural publication Made in Vancouver, a packaged release of artist zines and posters. Discussion will include show and tell presentations by contributing artists Patrick Cruz, Rob Ondzik and Daniel Rincon.; —
S/T Press is a publication and distribution house. Its goal is to generate further interest in the book arts.

4:00 PM
Thinking in Form: Graphic Design & Publication
@ Project Space, 222 E Georgia St: Join Project Space Co-Director Jaz Halloran (OCW Magazine, Discorder, Vancouver) and fellow graphic designers Elana Schlenker (Gratuitous Type, New York City), Ryan Romero (Wolf Mountain Writing Collective, Clou, Vancouver) and Beau House (Post Projects, Vancouver) for a discussion of contemporary issues in publication design and their personal design practices.

6:00 PM
BODY/IMAGE/TEXT
@ Access Gallery, 222 E Georgia St: In honour of their upcoming Queer Issue, Vancouver-based Poetry Is Dead magazine presents 陳聽春 listen chen and Alex Leslie performing poetry that leaves the page and incorporates audio and visual elements. Chen will present from her project LOVE CONTINENT, which explores the interfaces and intimacies between bodies and texts. Leslie will present from her series I Know How Small A Story Can Be, which uses photography and erasure to think about the idea of getting to the "core" of a story.; —
陳聽春 listen chen is a Hong Kong mutt who lives in Vancouver and mucks around with words.; Alex Leslie has published a collection of short stories People Who Disappear (Freehand, 2012) and a chapbook of microfictions 20 Objects For The New World (Nomados, 2011). She has published poetry, prose, criticism and cross-genre work in many Canadian journals.