Quotes about Books from Books about Books is an artists’ book, an exhibition, and a library of books about books, including periodicals, journals, exhibition catalogues, zines, monographs, and artists’ books spanning 1974–2025. Edited and compiled by Sveinn Fannar Jóhannsson, the project presents 148 quotes, drawn from his archive of printed matter, that reflect on the book as medium, material, and metaphor. The accompanying exhibition makes each source publication physically accessible to visitors—creating a participatory experience that mirrors the democratic ethos of independent publishing.
Historically, publishing has allowed artists to reclaim control over their work and operate outside commercial or institutional frameworks—a tradition this project draws on. By compiling and sequencing excerpts from a broad spectrum of artistic and theoretical publications, it interrogates the formal and conceptual boundaries of print culture and bookmaking.
The selected quotes address themes such as the economic realities of production, freedom of the press, authorship, and the artist’s book as a political object. The project also considers the book as an exhibition space, an object that resists categorization, and a self-reflexive medium. Some quotes further reflect on the materiality of books in more abstract or experimental terms. At its core, the project engages with long-standing debates around what a book is—or might be—questions that continue to shape contemporary publishing practices.
Subtitled Revised, Reversed, Revisited Edition, the publication resists conventional ordering, unfolding according to its own internal logic. Through excerpting, recontextualizing, and cataloguing, it explores how books articulate their own conditions of production, distribution, and reception.
Historically, publishing has allowed artists to reclaim control over their work and operate outside commercial or institutional frameworks—a tradition this project draws on. By compiling and sequencing excerpts from a broad spectrum of artistic and theoretical publications, it interrogates the formal and conceptual boundaries of print culture and bookmaking.
The selected quotes address themes such as the economic realities of production, freedom of the press, authorship, and the artist’s book as a political object. The project also considers the book as an exhibition space, an object that resists categorization, and a self-reflexive medium. Some quotes further reflect on the materiality of books in more abstract or experimental terms. At its core, the project engages with long-standing debates around what a book is—or might be—questions that continue to shape contemporary publishing practices.
Subtitled Revised, Reversed, Revisited Edition, the publication resists conventional ordering, unfolding according to its own internal logic. Through excerpting, recontextualizing, and cataloguing, it explores how books articulate their own conditions of production, distribution, and reception.