Description:
A proposed method for evaluation of haptic features of artists’ books that extends the system of critical methods presented in Johanna Drucker, “Critical Issues/Exemplary Works”, The Bonefolder, 1:2, 2005. Reading by Hand examines aesthetic consequence of a work of book art in the hands of the reader where tactile qualities and features of mobility are appreciated. This is a haptic domain where the study of touch as a mode of communication is at work. Such evaluations call up deeply embedded perceptions and sensory skills where the hands prompt the mind and where the reader’s understanding can be far removed from the intentions of the artist. Models of review, taxonomy and terms are suggested.