In the usual style, a round up of activities and events from the last couple of months.
The Artist's Bookmarket at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh was great, we met up with some lovely people, old friends and new. It was small enough to have a good look around and talk to artists about their work, but with enough readings and events that there was a steady flow of visitors throughout the 2 days. I think next time I would allow a bit more time for travel and mooching about as the 5am start didn't really start us on the right foot, though a large bowl of porridge each morning definitely helped get us back on track!
After that, in April, it was the big one, BABE at the Arnolfini, Bristol. It never fails to amaze me that you can fill a 3 storey gallery with artist's book-makers and there will still be people missing, just shows how many of us there are if you look in the right places. Tom made this great timelapse film to capture it all in 2 minutes: https://vimeo.com/124769276
I took the clocking in machine, along with a set of clock-in cards that I letterpress printed with 4 designs, as I wanted an 'action' for people to take part in as part of their book experience. It raised lots of interest, some surprise that it was operational, and some hard decisions for those who liked their printed cards untouched, but also wanted to take part.
BABE was swiftly followed by World Book Night with the project this year based on Stephen King's The Shining. I wasn't present for the event and resulting film, only contributing a tiny model to the film available here, but didn't they do a great job?