The Book as Interactive Tool

Stephen Willats uses books as tools to engage with people, and to create social spaces for relation and interaction in neighborhoods, museums, and bookshops. This republished essay from 1975 gains currency in the context of current discussions on audience and outlines an interactive approach that avoids the demand or authoritarian imperative to respond and redefines the artwork as a network of relationships between artists, audiences and society, framed by participatory action.