The theme of our WBN United Artists participatory call for 2022 was Ghosts in the Machine.

Inspired by haunting tales written by authors including M. R. James, Shirley Jackson, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Pierre de Ronsard, Fritz Lieber, Toni Morrison, Jan Pienkowski, Pu Songling, Astrid Lindgren, Aoko Matsuda, Stanisław Herman Lem and Daphne du Maurier, project participants were invited to create an image that we could print in black and white and tell us their favourite ghost story.

Thank you to everyone who participated. We’ve now taken the ghostly images and tales out of the ecto-containment facility for the exhibitions, video and artist’s book. We received 93 spectral contributions from artists, writers and the public in Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, UK & Ireland, and the USA.

The project was set as an optional brief for students of the Higher Diploma in Visual Arts and Culture and Higher Diploma in Illustration programmes at Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), Department of Communication Design, Hong Kong. Organised by Jessica Ho and tutored by Raymond Yau, Michi Leung, Kian Cheung, Sharon Ng, Leo Pang, Julvian Ho and Swing Lam. The works by these students are also on show in the library exhibition here at Bower Ashton.

The exhibition is open to the public from Weds 13th April – Sun 31st July 2022 (Mon – Fri 9-5)here at Bower Ashton and also formed part of the displays for the weekend of Bristol Artist’s Book Event. From 12th May – 30th June 2022, we also displayed works from previous Word Book Night editions in the library cases.

Our Ghosts in the Machine WBN publication is an A4 loose-leaf artist’s book which can be taken apart and made into a portable exhibition. Produced in an edition of 100, housed in a string tied envelope with a screenprinted title. The block of pages has been fastened with a band made from old chart recorder papers so each one in the edition of 100 is unique. A copy of the publication has been sent to each participant and the remainder donated to libraries and archives. You can download a pdf version of the publication here.

Our video with visual contributions by the artists/writers and music by Butler & Smith launched on the evening of Saturday 23rd April, World Book Night 2022. You can watch it here.

An exhibition at the Learning Resources Centre (LRC) at the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI), Department of Communication Design has also been organised by Jessica Ho and Raymond Yau. Atlantis paper sponsored the printing of the works on Tree Free Bamboo Natural paper. The Ghosts in the Machine exhibition is on display at the library from 4th July – 29th September 2022. You can take a little stroll around the exhibition here. Many thanks to Jessica Ho for this opportunity.

Please check the opening hours for Bower Ashton Library before visiting. You can also follow the library’s Twitter feed.

UWE Bristol, City Campus at Bower Ashton, Kennel Lodge Road, Bristol BS3 2JT.