In Defense of the Softcover Publications in the Genderfail Archive or the New Art of Collecting Books is a Publications released in conjunction of Be Oakleys 2018 MFA Thesis Exhibition at the Anderson Gallery in Richmond, VA. The publication takes reference of two texts "In Defense of the Poor Image" by Hito Steyerl and "The New Art of Making Books" by Ulises Carrion. The book also includes a manifesto "In Defense of the Softcover Publication" talking about the collecting practices of the GenderFail Archive Project. The essay looks to the softness of the book collected as a metaphor for the type of content that are housed within. This publication also comes with a custom print made unique to each copy in the edition.
