The State We’re In, 2024, is a limited edition of 24 boxed sets of artists’ books, the outcome of a collaboration between eleven members of Writers’ Kin, a group of artists who work with text as part of their professional practice and who are all members of CAMP.

Contemporary Arts Membership Platform (CAMP) is a support and professional development network for creatives who live, work or study in Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, and KIN groups are self-organising clusters within the CAMP membership. https://www.camp-membership.org/

The idea for the project originated from a discussion about the number of elections being held worldwide in 2024, with more people being eligible to vote than in any other year in human history. The theme developed from a collective sense of unease and disillusionment with the unsettled political, economic, social and ecological environment.

Each participant made twenty-four books, individual interpretations and responses to the title The State We’re In, 2024, which together serve as a polyphonic snapshot of the year. The books vary in form, materials, subjects and techniques, and include digitally and hand printed works.

Spotlight on Christina (Tina) Kutter

“With so many pressing issues vying for our attention; international conflicts and growing geopolitical instability, the rise of populism, the climate crisis, an ever-increasing chasm between the mega wealthy and the global majority - it took me a while to settle my focus on the conditions being imposed on the women of Afghanistan, an atrocity that’s in danger of falling out of public discourse. A scroll seemed an appropriate format for a list of the increasingly oppressive laws and edicts lately issued by the Taliban. Digitally printing these on fabric, then concealing the fabric scrolls inside tubes covered in beautifully decorative handmade paper felt both symbolic and coherent.”

The destinations for the boxed sets included various private and public collections such as The Wellcome Trust, Plymouth University, University of West of England, Arts University Plymouth and KARST Gallery. In addition, three sets have been retained for display and to tour ongoing exhibitions.

Participating Artists

Tara Casey, Rachael Coward, Laura Denning, James Farrant, Claire Gladstone, Karen Howse, Ellen Sims, Frances Staniforth, Stella Tripp, Nicola Westlake and Christina Kutter.