BOOKNESS speaks to Yiota Demetriou

In this week’s episode, BOOKNESS talks to multi-media artist Yiota Demetriou, about her work  To You, a book printed in thermochromic ink.

Listen to the episode here.

A woman sits behind a table with her right hand placed on an open book. The book has black pages, but close to her hand white patches can be seen, with small black text. In her other hand she holds a mug with a hot drink. In the foreground is an open brown box.
Artist Laura Kriefman experiencing ‘To You’ (Image by George Margelis, 2019)

It’s a book as much as it is an art object … as a book, read it, interact with it, touch its pages, infuse its pages with your warmth … from the art experience, I guess it’s more about the audiences way of how they want to interact with it …

‘To You’ (Rec. d.625) on show in the Sensational Books exhibition at the Weston Library.

I’ve always been interested in interactive books since I was little, I am neurodiverse myself so it’s easier for me … to engage with books that … use different senses because they would capture my entire focus.

A white hand with a green sleeve pressed against a black piece of paper stuck to a grey wall.
A single leaf of ‘To You’ that visitors to the Sensational Books exhibition can interact with.

It is an artwork that is supposed to be touched and it’s supposed to wear and tear … as you start to expose and touch … as you’re reading the content, it becomes more familiar with you …

The interactive materials wall in the Sensational Books exhibition showing a leaf of thermochromic paper that has been activated by the heat of a hand, and shows signs of the many interactions that have happened already over the course of the exhibition.

Useful links and glossary checks in this episode:

  • Find out more about Yiota’s work here.
  • Listen again to episode 1 of BOOKNESS to recap on what artists’ books are and the collection here at the Bodleian.
  • Watch a video of To You in action.
  • Visit the Sensational Books exhibition at the Bodleian’s Weston Library in Oxford until 4th December 2022, and experience Yiota’s work for yourself!