One of the ways in which people express bookishness is through a declaration of love for ‘the smell of books’, a phrase that evokes nostalgic attachment to print. Rather than accepting, critiquing,... Show moreOne of the ways in which people express bookishness is through a declaration of love for ‘the smell of books’, a phrase that evokes nostalgic attachment to print. Rather than accepting, critiquing, or deconstructing this familiar rhetoric, our research proposes a non-traditional response. As researchers, when people have brought up the smell of books, we have redirected the conversation by gesturing towards ferries. The diplomatic non-sequitur ‘Oh look, a ferry’ has become a catchphrase that we have extended metaphorically and literally. In this paper, we report on a range of arts-informed experiments, including a YouTube channel, pyjamas, and a manifesto. These creative, playful experiments suggest ways of expanding discussions about print and e-books amongst academia, industry and members of the public. Our research suggests that arts-informed experiments can produce tools for thinking about the materiality of books, thereby contributing towards the development of book culture epistemologies. Show less
Over the course of several centuries, the printed book has evolved into a medium which can facilitate deep and attentive reading in a highly productive manner. This ability results to a large... Show moreOver the course of several centuries, the printed book has evolved into a medium which can facilitate deep and attentive reading in a highly productive manner. This ability results to a large extent from specific material properties of paper-based books. As few of these properties can be replicated effectively on digital devices, the transition to screen-based texts invariably leads to different forms of reading. While the immateriality of digital books may affect our capacity to concentrate on texts and to remember their contents, the plasticity and the computability of digital words simultaneously engender innovative ways of engaging with books. Show less
