Personally, I feel like the effectiveness of materiality/form and content within books depends on whether the material content/form adds new perspective to the overarching story that the author is trying to portray or not. For example, in the blog titled Books on Books Collection – Claire Van Vliet the artist book The Gospel of Mary is displayed to have works of art drawn on select pages in the book in relation to the text, and even has a fold-out page of complements the meaning behind the gospel text. Most importantly, it is not over-exaggerated and does not take the reader’s attention from the main text. On the flipside, the blog named after its text Batterers shows a visual book that shows readers the deeper meaning behind an original poem with a literal visual that incorporates the author’s original intention. While the visual is an added bonus for readers to consume, though, the literal visual media does steal some of the reader’s reasoning and deduction skills, which are inherent in readers when it comes to exploring and identifying the meaning behind the text, whether they search for the author’s true intention or not. The meaning, in this case, is displayed front and center and makes it a little too easy for readers to decipher what the text is trying to convey. Therefore, I believe that it is important to study these book features separately, to offer readers an extra level of comprehension, rather than taking it away from them altogether.
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Hi Allison ,
I agree with your blog post 100% the materiality of a book is a blessing and curse in relations to content and I like how you focused on the importance of perspective when it comes to this relationship because everyone’s is different and come with various opinions and reading types so the materiality of a book can’t deem more important to someone rather than the content and vice versus but I feel one can not merely stand alone.
Hi Allison,
I agree that materiality can either add or detract from the overall book experience. The example you used illustrates how it can add value. But as you said, sometimes (S. being one glaring example) the materiality can overload the reader and lessens the overall experience of the book.
I do disagree with you, however, in your assertion that these features should be studied seperately because sometimes the relationship between the two is so completely intertwined that it’s almost impossible to seperate them without diminishing either.
Hi Allison, I agree somewhat that materiality can add and also take away from the book overall. I would think it depends on the type of material used and the amount that is being used. It also depends on the type of book and the audience it alludes to. Some people are more interesting in the content so the materiality or form would not matter much. The materiality or form can tell a lot about a book before you see the actual content. I believe some people would buy a book based on the materiality or form.