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The rich tradition of artists’ books that flourished over the last seventy years was built by artists looking at printed books and essentially asking themselves, What else can this do? How can these materials and structures be creatively manipulated and reimagined in such a way as to produce new objects and provoke new ideas?

Artists’ books hit an inflection point just over fifteen years ago, following the first releases of the Kindle, iPhone, and iPad. Presented with the sudden popularity of these new delivery devices, publishers of all sizes, from artists and indie presses to the Big Six, rushed to explore the new digital future of book publishing. During this period we saw books as apps, hybrid books, books in browsers, interactive books, and more. But after a few years, the gold rush sputtered and digital publishing settled into rather mundane forms. Perhaps it was because there wasn’t all that much gold to be had, or because the technology proved too difficult and costly to mine. Still, when looking at today’s digital books the question lingers: What else can this do?

This poster session will explore one possible answer, demonstrating simple ways a digital feature can be hacked to ends that may have been unintended by the original makers, but that may offer artists and creative publishers ways to produce new objects, provoke new ideas, and ultimately push books and culture forward in new ways.