Multi-part Books

Multi-part artists’ books push the boundaries of the traditional codex—sequential bound pages.  What are the separate parts that together constitute the “book”?

They could be a set of booklets; folded pages tucked in an envelope pocket; a portfolio of prints; a deck of cards; or just about anything.  Multi-part books invite the reader to open the box or case, to untie or unwrap and remove the different parts, discovering how they all fit together and what stories they conceal and reveal.  

Mary Hark, Atta Kwami
Minneapolis: Take Time Press, 2011
Otobong Edet Nkanga
Amsterdam: Lumen Travo Gallery, 2010