Over a year ago (2019) Prompted by my family’s desire to see the newest indie-independent art we went to Chicago’s “Printed Matter Book Fair”. After finding parking on Wabash Ave short stroll brought us to the Michigan location of this glorious event. Old buildings on Michigan Ave destinations by themselves showing to the visitor quite an interesting 19-century approach to architectural design. There is a certain charm preserved in the old interior decoration. A crowd of mostly young people filled the stairs and walkways on 3floors of the building.
Crowded Floors filled with exhibitors and viewers with little space in between on the first sight offered plenty of interesting things to see. But after a while searching for the new, beautiful, and unexpected there was a sort of disappointment. Clearly, we expected more. The first thing which struck my practical mind was a discovery that no independent bookseller present on these 3 floors was offering something I would purchase, read and cherish for at least for a while.
Books exist not only in their physical form but at least to me as the frame for an interesting message. The message was the ingredients missing. The main message emerging from seeing the fair was a message of the author’s loss and confusion. Focusing on form, printed pages without a clear intellectual path produced nothing memorable. Even a few pop-ups I saw, did not bring to me this kind of satisfaction or curiosity to prompt me to purchase one since they are bound to sit on the shelves forgotten because of the sin of not carrying a message.
Message It is the ingredient missing from contemporary US American art. That’s why Manga Books and similar foreign inventions dominate the U.S. market. They bring the message – excitement.
In a culture focused on the financial aspect, simple seeds of imagination and creativity have no chance to flourish. The young generation of makers is trying but since there were born and raised in this environment there are trying, but falling short.
Coming back to my family we came to the conclusion that our time could be better spent.
Unfortunately.
But I think we should keep watching. true art comes unexpectedly and in small portions.
This February 2021 Printed Matter will launch its first Virtual Art Book Fair (PMVABF)
https://pmvabf.org/
