Contemporary artists books developed as part of the Conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a complex, intellectual art form, and in many instances these works of art do not necessarily resemble a traditional book. Artists use the cultural symbolism associated with reading, writing, and printed material to make works of art in various formats. These can be sculptures, or installations, or even performance pieces. The genre also includes works that do resemble traditional books. In this instance, artists are exploring how the interaction of text, image, typography, and design interact to effect the meaning of a book. This thesis explores the history of the book to see how the symbolic meanings associated with religion, politics, immortality and power developed, and how artists combine the history of the book with contemporary social issues to make works of art.
","abstract_html":"<p>Contemporary artists books developed as part of the Conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a complex, intellectual art form, and in many instances these works of art do not necessarily resemble a traditional book. Artists use the cultural symbolism associated with reading, writing, and printed material to make works of art in various formats. These can be sculptures, or installations, or even performance pieces. The genre also includes works that do resemble traditional books. In this instance, artists are exploring how the interaction of text, image, typography, and design interact to effect the meaning of a book. This thesis explores the history of the book to see how the symbolic meanings associated with religion, politics, immortality and power developed, and how artists combine the history of the book with contemporary social issues to make works of art.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Harrington, Diana L."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Leslie Ross, PhD","James Mullane, PhD"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2005,"date_issued":"2005-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2005-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z","subjects":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/249","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Leslie Ross, PhD","James Mullane, PhD"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Harrington, Diana L."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/249"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Contemporary artists books developed as part of the Conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a complex, intellectual art form, and in many instances these works of art do not necessarily resemble a traditional book. Artists use the cultural symbolism associated with reading, writing, and printed material to make works of art in various formats. These can be sculptures, or installations, or even performance pieces. The genre also includes works that do resemble traditional books. In this instance, artists are exploring how the interaction of text, image, typography, and design interact to effect the meaning of a book. This thesis explores the history of the book to see how the symbolic meanings associated with religion, politics, immortality and power developed, and how artists combine the history of the book with contemporary social issues to make works of art.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Book as a Cultural Object: Exploring the Symbolism of Artist's Books"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Leslie Ross, PhD","James Mullane, PhD"],"dc:creator":["Harrington, Diana L."],"dc:description.abstract":["Contemporary artists books developed as part of the Conceptual art movement of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a complex, intellectual art form, and in many instances these works of art do not necessarily resemble a traditional book. Artists use the cultural symbolism associated with reading, writing, and printed material to make works of art in various formats. These can be sculptures, or installations, or even performance pieces. The genre also includes works that do resemble traditional books. In this instance, artists are exploring how the interaction of text, image, typography, and design interact to effect the meaning of a book. This thesis explores the history of the book to see how the symbolic meanings associated with religion, politics, immortality and power developed, and how artists combine the history of the book with contemporary social issues to make works of art.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/249"],"dc:subject":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["The Book as a Cultural Object: Exploring the Symbolism of Artist's Books"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:59Z"}