[catalog] Bioscopic Books : [from April 24th till June 12th, 2021, Kunsthal Gent] /

Films have always had an eye on books, but books have been staring right back at them, fascinated by the modern flair, the power and the light of cinema. The ‘Bioscopic Books' exhibition brings together artist's books from past and present that relate implicitly or explicitly to the medium of film. It is no coincidence that the artist's book emancipated itself as an autonomous art object shortly after the emergence of cinema. Whereas painting and photography envied film for its moving images and narrative power, the artist's book fully embraced its cinematic potential, experimenting with new possibilities to generate form and meaning sequentially, not only in words, but also and especially through images. In turn, filmmakers discovered that various combinations of images and complex camera movements are possible on and between the pages of a book.Bioscopic Books is a collaboration between LUCA School of Arts, Kunsthal Gent & Art Cinema OFFoff. The Idea for the exhibition was born within the context of the research project ‘Bioscopic Books. Artist's books as seen through the cinema-eye'. The project is realized in close alignment with Tine Guns's PhD project ‘The photo book as a visual pageturner: a pre- and post-cinematographic editing story'.Films have always had an eye on books, but books have been staring right back at them, fascinated by the modern flair, the power and the light of cinema. The ‘Bioscopic Books' exhibition brings together artist's books from past and present that relate implicitly or explicitly to the medium of film. It is no coincidence that the artist's book emancipated itself as an autonomous art object shortly after the emergence of cinema. Whereas painting and photography envied film for its moving images and narrative power, the artist's book fully embraced its cinematic potential, experimenting with new possibilities to generate form and meaning sequentially, not only in words, but also and especially through images. In turn, filmmakers discovered that various combinations of images and complex camera movements are possible on and between the pages of a book.Van Gerrewey, Christoph