I think they are fun, but a much better explanation can be found on the website of the beleaguered Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in a catalog intro written by Lynda Bunting.
"An artist’s book is a book made by an artist. While this sounds rather obvious, scholars have been grappling with describing the genre since the 1960s. Often deviating from conventional publications, artists’ books have complicated storytelling in myriad ways....The carefully selected sequences of information they present empower the reader to interact with them liberally and at their own discretion."
Besides being diverting, I think creating an artist book is an effective way for students to interact with and process new information and themes. MOCA has a great online video catalog of examples by Keith Haring, Olafur Eliasson, Lara Schnitger, Jorge Pardo and others.
The exhibition at MOCA is called To Illustrate and Multiply: An Open Book. It closes on March 1st, 2009.
Also: Leonard Cohen wrote a famous song about a Blue Raincoat.
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