Blank On Demand

Print-on-demand paperback, with Giulia Ciliberto, Artist's Book, 2011

Blank on Demand, Silvio Lorusso and Giulia Ciliberto, 2011Blank on Demand, Silvio Lorusso and Giulia Ciliberto, 2011

«The most beautiful and perfect book in the world is a book with only blank pages, in the same way that the most complete language is that which lies beyond all that the words of a man can say.» (Ulises Carriòn, The New Art of Making Books, 1975)

1 hardcover volume, 15.2×22.9cm, 740 pages, €999,999.99 on Lulu.com
1 paperback volume, 10.8×17.5cm, 40 pages, €5.44 on Lulu.com

Print on Demand technology allows to make a book without the intermediation of a publisher, setting autonomously size, amount of pages and price. Blank on Demand is an experiment that aims to probe the limits imposed by this production process. The two volumes constituting the project are produced through the self-publishing platform Lulu.com. The volumes’ formats correspond respectively to the maximum and minimum dimensions currently available for the print; similarly, page amount and price are set according to the limit values allowed by the platform. The two volumes are completely blank, except for the presence of the ISBN code. The experiment investigates the influence of the current technological context on the materiality of the book object.

Blank On Demand on Lulu.com