A specially commisioned LESEMACHINE from the Center for Computational Unknowing was installed for the Library of Artistic Print on Demand at the Museum VILLA STUCK, Munich
(May - Sept. 2024)

"Print on demand has revolutionized the world of books. Since the beginning of the millennium, there has been a convergence of ever better and cheaper digital printing processes and expanded possibilities offered by the global online trade. This has resulted in a production method in which books are no longer reproduced in stock. Instead, they are only printed when there is a specific need, in other words: “on demand.

Digital platforms like Kindle Direct Publishing, Blurb, and Lulu currently dominate the ondemand production of books in the self-publishing segment. In principle, this makes it possible for anyone to publish their work immediately across the globe without having to rely on a publisher and without the need for any financial investment or risk. Just a few clicks are needed to create the books and enter them into the global book trade. This opens up space beyond the classical book market and helps democratize production.

But while print on demand overturns old value attributions and bypasses gatekeepers, it at the same time creates new dependencies on digital platforms and their specifications and interests. People also lament the loss of content quality when anyone can print anything. Moreover, digital printing and binding are often not of a high quality and the error rate in fully automated production is quite significant. On the other hand, print-on-demand platforms enable participation and experimentation and open books up to new fields of application and areas of thought.

This dynamic has given rise to an entire subculture in artistic publishing that freshly explores the medium of the book in search of possible content, aesthetics, materiality, economies, and publics, while at the same time negotiating and critically reflecting on our digital present.

The books show how these innovative methods of production and publication can be harnessed creatively, used exploratively, and made subject to nuanced reflection. They also demonstrate the undiminished appeal and relevance of the printed book.

With more 244 items, the “Library of Artistic Print on Demand” maps this experimental field for the first time, exploring its global spread, historical depth, and political relevance. All publications are documented extensively in a web archive. Since 2024, they are also being preserved in physical form at the Bavarian State Library (Collection of Artists’ Books). A detailed catalogue including essays by key practitioners and thinkers in the field will be published by Spector Books.

The “Library of Artistic Print on Demand” is based on a research project conducted by Annette Gilbert and Andreas Bülhoff at Friedrich Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (2019–2022) and funded by the German Research Foundation. Annette Gilbert has curated the selection of the more than 110 books assembled and made accessible here. Each copy comes with a note describing the respective project in German and English." Text taken from the Museum Villa Stuck