Karen Gelardi: collaborative book project

I first came across Karen Gelardi's work in Lines & Shapes (top image). She is currently at work on a book and installation project in which book blocks are purchased by "collaborators", used in the installation, and then shipped to the purchaser.

"Assembly is an artist book project where potential art patrons can collaborate in the exhibit content. It consists of a series of three books whose pages are composed of identical black and white drawings of botanical or geometric designs. When participants purchase a book online or in the exhibit, it will be printed “on demand” and displayed in the exhibit, adding to a growing, colorful stack of books (they will be mailed to their owners when the exhibit ends). The artist uses on-demand manufacturing because the scale of production is perfectly in synch with the demand. However, within the exhibit context, the print-on-demand books are sculptural objects, not functioning as books."

You can support this project by purchasing a book from the artist's website here.