Join book artist Thad Higa in an exploration of how artists’ books function as interactive objects that guide readers through a process of understanding. This talk will delve into the choice of materials, book structure, and narrative layout in three of his artists’ books. He will discuss how these elements work in tandem to expand the sense of language and meaning, especially in regards to complex and pressing issues such as those pertaining to social justice.

Artists’ books offer unique ways to expand language and meaning through their use of materials, structure, and sequencing. They bring together time, experience, and interpretation in ways that differ from traditional texts.  By engaging with a book as a physical, touchable form, readers are often more open to entering complex and necessary conversations.

About: Thad Higa is a Korean-Okinawan American language worker, based in the Bay Area. He is a book artist, print maker, woodworker, and graphic designer who plays in concrete poetry and living rooms. He investigates intersections of written and visual language, advertising, capitalism, white supremacy, and each of their roles in controlling perceptions of reality, value and legibility.

His work has been exhibited in the Hawaiʻi State Art Museum, Five Myles Gallery, Asian Arts Initiative, Knust Kunz Gallery, and the Hawaiʻi 2022 Triennial. He is the recipient of the Murphy Cadogan 2022 award and Holle Book Arts 2023 award. His books are in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Yale University, Walker Art Center, and the Letterform Archive among others.