Beyond Pedagogy and Aesthetics: Werner Pfeiffer's ''Errantry''

Errantry is an artist book created by Werner Pfeiffer. The book was published in 2008 by Pear Whistle Press located in Red Hook, New York. This copy is the twelfth in a series of 52 signed and numbered copies.

Overview

Errantry is housed in the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts located on the fifth and sixth floors of the University of Pennsylvania's Van Pelt-Dietrich Library. The library directly purchased this copy from Pfeiffer. This book challenges the traditional expectations of a book and measures up to the liminality between publications and art. Pfeiffer's work, and that of other artists, add to the debate concerned about the purpose and point of artist books.

Defining Artist Books

There is a constant debate about whether artists' books qualify more as art or as books. Jo Milne, an artist and researcher argues that artist books are "hybrids resistant to definition."

'Errantry' Form and Structure

Interestingly, the book is a scroll housed inside an artillery casing. The entire piece is within a chest box.