Catalogue on the occasion of the exhibition Bioscopic Books, from April 24 - June 6, 2021 at Kunsthal Gent.

Tine Guns, Inge Ketelers, Isolde Vanhee

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.

In Kunsthal Gent, over 60 books are exhibited that have been carefully selected by several experts on photobooks and artist’s books. Moreover, three new artist’s books have been created especially for the exhibition by Tine Guns, Sophie Nys and Nicolas Provost. These three books are presented alongside three films from the same artists to wrap up the dialogue between books and films.

Authors: Tine Guns, Inge Ketelers, Isolde Vanhee | Graphic design: Septian Priyatna | 144 pages | 118 x 205 mm, 4.625 x 8 in