Book Of Degree Zero

Ed Ruscha is often considered an early pioneer of the “Artist’s Book” genre,and his book Twentysix Gasoline Stations(1963)is considered a contemporary example of this genre,and has been used by many later artists as a model for re-creation.This essay proposes the concept “Book of Degree Zero”to explain how Ed Ruscha using the image as a neutral material and presenting the artist’s ideas in the nature of the book to create his Artist’s books.The actions taken to represent the ideas make the book itself becomes an autonomous reality.The essay takes the history of Western postmodern art and Western postmodern theory as a longitudinal background,and Ed Ruscha’s creation of the artist’s book as the main subject of the discussion.The essay discusses the dramatic changes in Western art history,the rise of conceptual art and the early development of Artist’s book in the beginning.Then gives the historical background of the study in the context of Ed Ruscha’s cultural and political circumstance in the United States and the artist’s career.On this basis,the analysis focuses on the specific forms of Ed Ruscha’s creations of Artist’s books,and his artistic strategies regarding the behavioral directives along with the reproduction of the mechanical use of no subjectivity.It also deepens the understanding of Ed Ruscha’s Artist’s books by comparing them with examples of other artists’ creations and uncovering common aspects in a broader field of contemporaneous artistic creations.Finally,it examines the possibility of the continuity of Ed Ruscha’s original ideas and the dissolution of meanings in his books from a creator’s perspective,and discusses the extent to which his artistic strategies can be employed.