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	Second International Artist's Book Triennial Vilnius '00 Apocalypse

	The artist's books fascinate and attract us. They lure us by their simplicity and enchant by their versatility. The artist's book - a combination of idea and matter, flowing like a mountain river, and polyhedral stones at its bottom, - all the forms of the earthly materiality. The book as the transmitter of cultural information, gone through its ups and downs in the course of centuries, returns to life in the shape of a artist's book like a Phoenix from its ashes and starts to shine not due to the fancifulness of the text or splendid illustrations and the fascinating cover, attracting the reader's eye, but due to its conceptuality, and manifolds diversity of the forms. The artist's book - a phenomenon. It is created by sculptors and graphic artists, painters and textile artists, ceramists and video masters. The artist's books are flat, two-dimensional or spatial. They are kinetic and existing in the TV monitor, miniature and gigantic.
	In Lithuania the First Exhibitions of the Artist's Book were organised in 1991. Their initiators were several like-minded persons, who made an attempt to discover the things, which had been existing in Europe for the whole century. "Drinking water from the Tap" - the first exhibition of the artist's book. It presents works of seven Lithuanian artists'. The idea of the exhibition was to show a book as a form; an idea or the idea realised in the form of book. The first attempt was followed by other exhibitions of the artist's book held almost every year, featuring new themes and new artists.
	When organising the First International Artist's Book Triennial in 1997, I attempted to import to exhibitions a certain periodicity and to stimulate the artists to create artist's book on the proposed theme. My idea can be perceived as a conservative step, because such thematic exhibitions were held periodically in the East countries. Besides, the theme announced in advance "restrict" the artist's restricted enough freedom in other ways. I would like to point out that in the course of fifty years dominated only one theme and the manner of its solution was principally also one - a direct interpretation of the theme. In our practice to organise exhibitions of artist's books, we used to select a theme in order to provoke artists to create not what he knows how and not in his usual way. Proposing a single theme, we wanted it to be interpreted through different forms and materials.
	The first Triennial "Diary: Eight Days" was held in the gallery "Kaire Desine" ("Left Right") in Vilnius as many as 65 artists with 105 artist's books participated from 13 European countries.
	The artists created books for the Second International Artist's Book Triennial on the Apocalypse theme. The idea of the triennial was to make it an open exhibition, where all the artists could participate. Such a seemingly too open structure of the exhibition could lead to the dominance of quantity over quality. I am convinced, however, that no such thing happened, because the majority of the participants in the Triennial were world-famous makers of the artist's books, whose works demonstrate their splendour in foreign museums and private collections. In the Triennial participated 138 artists from 29 countries: Japan, Korea, Australia, nearly all European countries, Nordic countries, the USA and Canada.Lithuania.
	There were no prizes - winners at the triennial. A Triennial of the artist's book is a non-commercial exhibition. Besides, it is not a sporting contest, where the achieved results determine the winner. The idea that a certain artist is better that others would lead to the conclusion that others are worse. In that case it would be impossible to speak about the quality of the exhibition with so many "worse" or "bad" artists. In my opinion, the artist's book is an elite art, which can not be evaluated applying student assessment principles or a three - point assessment system. The practice in other countries witnesses that the selection of the "best" never avoids a great dose of subjectivity.
	Along with the main exposition of the Triennial at the Arka Gallery, a satellite exhibition of Calligraphic Artist's Book was arranged. Even 17 artists from Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Germany, Estonia, Bulgaria, the USA and Lithuania created and sent their calligraphic artist's books on the Apocalypse theme. This original and greatly concentrated collection included classical, roller, Jewish, object type books, le parello, a book - box (the Concord Chest), a star book, a book - palm leaver. Some of them are created employing different sorts of paper and by way of writing or drawing the text, in others the letters are embroidered an fabric or leather, modelled from paper mass, written in a silver pen on palm leaves and bent grass, which rolled up and "shut" with all the text when they dried up. An artist from Bulgaria sent a book baked from bread dough with imprinted letters. The text of some books are borrowed from the Revelation to St. John, in others - the artist's text conveys his apocalyptic moods.
	The subject axis of the Triennial - Apocalypse. It is a provoking theme, very popular and together existential and philosophical. Apocalypse as a bad dream or a dreadful vision of the future, which has to emerge soon and Apocalypse as a perpetual process of existence. The sent artist's books and enclosed commentaries on them confirm such a wide analysis of the theme. Some of the artists were immersed in religious and cultural apocalyptic meditations, others went deeper into the experiences of their nation or the "hot spots of the world", or those of their own or their families.
	The majority of the exhibited books are limited - edition or unique artist's books. I think that an intimate approach to the book created by the artist's hands but not made by a master is one of the principle features peculiar to the Triennial. The books, which witness not only their unconventional forms and conceptual solutions also, radiate a spiritual energy. Similar exhibitions held in others countries or the fairs of the artist's books are dominated by popular writers' books - "livre d'artiste", perfectly well illustrated and bound, issued in a limited number of copies.
	The analysis of the importance of the text in the artist's book presents great interest. In the majority of the books it is employed not as the source of information to be read, but as a form, texture and a contrast to the drawing. There are only a few artist's books, where, following the "livre d'artiste" tradition, the text is used as a full - pledged element of the book, containing thematic information. In other books it serves as the means of the elucidation of the artist's idea and of the talk with oneself or the spectators. A letter can serve both as a form and content (I have in mind the books, which contain only two letters: Alfa and Omega). The greater part of the collection consists of the books without any letters. Therefore, it is logical to question whether only a book containing information conveyed by letters can be called a full - pledged book. Can a book by itself be information and idea, which is able to exist without any text? If we consider that the main principal of the book is to convey information to the reader, we should also admit that the information contained in the book could be conveyed not only by a literal text.
	The versatility of the Triennial's exhibits is shown by the forms of the artist's books: books-albums, books-rolls, Chinese books, books-sculptures, books-pictures, books-objects, bibliophile books, Tibetan books, books-folders (le parello), Jewish books, calligraphic and typographic books, books-installations, video books, books-boxes, books-tunnels, etc.
	All the exhibited works can be devoted into two major groups. The first group included the artist's books with a classical structure and form of the book. One can "read" them leafing the pages or by way to bending out a small "harmonica". The majority of them are paper books (of hand-made paper), where the image (and the text) is imprinted from a wooden board, linoleum, a zinc cliché and draw in acrylic, oil or other paints. Sometimes artists employ collage or transfer the image from a computer, or exploits all the mentioned media (and not mentioned). In frequent case they have "insets" such pebbles, shells, plants, ribbons, wax and a great many of other wonderful small things.
	The artist's idea as expressed in an active form. The theme is developed on a linear principle of a growing tension or through separate propositions (questions, exclamations).
	The second numerous groups of books contain books-objects, where the idea of the book is retained, or the artists make use even of the book itself. However, here it is only a tool, form, material, which render the artist's original idea. They vary from miniature books, which coil up forming a box like a tape wounds round a cassette, to books - shelves, covered by cement and weighing some 200 kg or 4 meter high books-installations. They are hanging books-chandeliers, books-doors, book-boxes, ceramic, mosaic and glass artist's books, book-records, etc. The artists exploited the most unusual materials and their combinations with a view of making a book form more active and their idea more sharp. Such books unfold a pronounced motif of hope or decline and death put into words like a four-line verse in an easy and accurate way
	Nearly 13 artist's books form a group which links the books of the first and second type. They are the artist's books with "pages", which one seems to be able to leaf. But they are made from glass, wood, iron, cord, thread, fabric or false dollars. They have neither a text nor illustrations. The artists retain the book form and flirt with an unconventional use of the material, texture, an odd "binding", fragility and temporality. They apocalyptic idea is expressed in a sensitive and laconic way: seven wax-stamped envelopes, seven glass "filled up" pages, etc.
	What brings into unity all that motley collection, those cultural pebbles of different countries? Will a theme suffice like a cord for beads to produce a marvellous string of beads - a triennial? Is Apocalypse that medium through the meditation of which by their works the artists got united in single space? Is a theme an axis along the vertical of which moves ideas, which read an all-embracing divinity or sink into spontaneity?
	After the end of the Triennial in Vilnius, the exhibition of the artist's book will be moved to the Gallery5020, in Salzburg, Austria. It will be open to public from January 10 through February 3, 2001

	Kestutis Vasiliunas Curator of the Triennial

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