Everyweekness

Ways of Reading - Experimental Performance/Projection

2012-01-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

So yesterday saw our first MA group show; put together by a very organised and patient member of the book art student group; a big thanks to Estelle for all her hard work.

It was a mixture of Book Art and Printmaking students work in our freshly painted shared studio. I wanted to test out an idea and so tried something I have never ventured into before....performance!

'Ways of Reading' was really more of a live projection rather than a performance but I have no idea how to name these things. And it was an experiment so some parts of it were not how I ideally wanted them, but the whole experience was positive and made me think a bit more about the initial concept, which was the whole idea of the experiment I guess.

So the book that I used was The Readies by Bob Brown, and I only used a certain section of the book where he is describing a new method of reading and the example of a READIE story that might be read on his proposed Reading Machine. [I will do a proper post later with more on Bob Brown and his Reading Machine].

The idea behind this silent read-along was to do with how we read and how reading is changing now. The viewers who are reading on the screen have no control over how fast I am reading and when I turn the pages or move the book around. It is a reading machine of sorts, forcing you to miss bits, read faster and get frustrated by the way you are reading is being controlled by another person and also by the mechanism it is being transmitted with.

I have some ideas on how to push this further alongside other Reading Machine ideas like the barrel from the last post, but I think I need the feedback to sink in from yesterday a bit before I comment on this any more.

Ps. I have to thank Di for taking photos for me too; they are great!

Reading Machines

2012-01-14T06:29:00.000-08:00

An excerpt from my MA proposal: "In a time whenthe act of reading is changing significantly, the physical book as amechanism for reading text is being brought into question. I proposean investigation into what that means for book art as well as thewider world of reading and information cultures.

I am extremelyinterested in the machine as book, or reading machine, and how thathas developed throughout history as well as how much potential it hasnow as an artistic device within my practice. I am also interested inhow that relates to the current trends of e-reading."

So this is my attempt at a prototype reading machine. The idea came from thinking about how we now read and 'turn the pages' of articles or text on our smart phones and tablet devices; the way we swipe the touch-screens to move the text and read more. Ideally there would be several 'barrels' that you swipe with your hand to move all at once.

I have also, quite obviously, been influenced by Ramelli's Book Wheel and Daniel Libeskind's machines, both of which you can see images of in my 'reading machines' pinterest board.

This needs more work; and although I might go forward with it I also want to work through some smaller models/maquettes of other machine ideas...or even ideas that deal with the act of reading and how it might be changing....

Will keep you posted.

A Spot of Bookbinding

2012-01-14T03:46:00.000-08:00

Before Christmas happened I taught a few friends how to bind a simple notebook/sketchbook; it was a fun if exhaustingly long day! And it made my knowledge better by doing so; amazing how teaching someone else a technique helps cement it in your own mind better.

Didn't they do well??!

Oh, Zero, One [and other exhibitions cont.]

2012-01-05T05:01:00.000-08:00

And so the exhibition write ups continue....

Oh, Zero, One: Ruth Beale & Una Knox, Cell Project Space

Knowing Ruth Beale's work from previous exhibitions I knew this would be worth going to, and I wasn't disappointed. Oh, Zero, One looks at the collection of knowledge and how we perceive and interact with them. Beale's work All the Libraries in London is literally an alphabetical text list of the names of the libraries in London on the wall. There appears to be some sort of system, some names are in italics, some in other fonts, but there is no key to decipher the differing elements; I can assume that the differences are to distinguish between public, private, and institutional libraries. The list even includes the library from which I was made redundant just a few months ago, now closed and the books waiting to find out their fate. In the centre of the room there is a bench with headphones, upon which loops an audio piece; my assumption is that it is Ruth Beale's voice talking about each library, but as you listen you realise she is talking about libraries that are closed or abandoned, ones that I haven't heard being abandoned.....the scene she sets seems quite apocalyptic and it makes me wonder about the line between fiction and reality; she could be describing the reality of the library closures around London, and yet somehow it seems to speak of the future, a dystopia that could come from the pages of Huxley's Brave New World.

In the next part of the exhibition Una Knox has a video piece that seems to show a character that works in the storerooms of a big museum, he is talking about some sort of medical condition where he has episodes of sudden and very strange sensations of deja vu. As he walks around the old building describing the condition and the way he works at his job you start getting the feeling of deja vu too, the audio and the visual looping at different rates, or perhaps repetitive visuals. There are parts in the film which strongly remind me of a video that plays at the Wellcome Collection's permanent exhibition rooms, The Phantom Museum by The Brothers Quay. Ghostly legs run up a large staircase, gloved hands unlock rooms containing many objects and carefully unwrap things for us to see. You get an impression of the storehouse of an institution which you get with Knox's work also, in fact it could even be the same staircase.... Deja Vu again.....

Ugly Ebooks / What makes an Ebook an Ebook?

2012-01-05T03:49:00.000-08:00

Ugly Ebooks
This article was written back in 2009; and yet ebooks are still ugly! The new version of the Kindle has not improved the look of the ebooks themselves because the publishers are not putting the time into making them work properly let alone look nice! To be honest I have only bought a few ebooks so far but from what I have seen and heard from others too it's just that no-one commercially seems to want to invest the same amount of time designing an ebook than they would designing a print book. I am extremely disappointed that all my bought Kindle books use the same font, have confusing, often double pagination (one page no. referring to the print version, one to the e version), and when it comes to non-fiction books their ease of use (contents pages and indexes) is just not really thought about. I would really like someone to come along and tell me I am wrong and that I am just looking at the wrong ebooks, but really until the books I want to read on my device are up to the standard I would expect I am still going to be disappointed and thinking twice about spending more money buying them. If they want us to spend almost the same amount on an ebook as we do on physical books they need to actually function well. Digitizing an already existing book does not make it an ebook!
[rant over!]

What makes an Ebook?
What makes an ebook a book? [and not a website/page or media file?] Should it now just be defined text with added extras, a form to read from? Is a PDF an ebook, or just a document that we can read on a handheld device? Is it the device itself that makes what we read on it a book? Is a book just a reading machine?
[just some questions I have had running through my head recently, especially after Elaine Treharne's (@etreharne) keynote 'The Numbered Days of The Page' at The Future Perfect of The Book symposium back in November.]

The Solace of Objects [and other exhibitions]

2012-01-05T03:40:00.000-08:00

So I have been away from here a while, sorry! Happy New Year and all that. I have been busy going to talks and exhibitions over the seasonal holidays and before and I think a write up is in order. Firstly;

Charmed Life: The Solace of Objects by Felicity Powell @ the Wellcome Collection

Before I saw the exhibition I actually went to an Art Quest talk where she was talking and so found out a bit about the show before even setting foot in the space. The talk was about artists and collections and how and why artists work with institutions and their collections. Powell discussed her previous work with the V&A and the British Museum and then onto the recent work with the Wellcome. Having an interest in amulets Powell wanted to explore a particular collection within the institution. Edward Lovett's collection of Edwardian Londoners amulets intrigued her and so she has been working with this part of the collection. When you enter the exhibition it is clear that Powell has had a big part in the curation of the show as well as the making of her own work inspired by working with the objects. Artist as curator; which works extremely well when anyone engages with museums and their objects. People like to see artists personal choices of objects as well as the work they make from them, giving the artist a level of freedom to choose the objects to be put on display and how they are displayed produces a really cohesive show.

As in this case where Powell has designed this horseshoe shaped display cabinet for the myriad of amulet objects. You can really see the connections between objects and the work she has made. This case also makes you take a journey through the objects and so through types of amulets and perhaps gives you a sense of Edwardian London even. Another part of the show I liked was the way Powell offers the viewer to see her work in progress, her process in making through video, which you can also see on the website here. While I liked the wax drawings that made up the bulk of her work on display I think my favourite piece of hers there was the video (that she explained at the talk) of her writing out the Lords Prayer in a spiral to try to copy the process of a man who's amulet is one of the ones on display. His amulet was a tiny piece of paper on which he wrote out the Lords Prayer in a spiral and carried this around with him; the handwriting is tiny and so Powell had to go over the process many times before getting it exactly right. I loved to hear of this repetitive copying process in the talk but unfortunately it wasn't explained or made evident in the video itself.

This, and the accompanying exhibition, Infinitas Gracias,[which is a exhibition showing a large collection of Mexican miracle votive paintings] is on at the Wellcome Collection until 26th Feb 2012.

More reviews to come.....

An Attempt at an Artists' Ebook

2011-11-30T02:31:00.001-08:00

It is not an official kindle ebook, but just a pdf file which is of course viewable on most ereaders not just kindles. You can in fact download it from here if you want to view the whole thing on your computer, clever phone, tablet or reading device.

Catch Up on Pop Up

2011-11-30T02:01:00.001-08:00

So I finished the pop-up book idea; its not really a finished piece as such but part of a body of work I guess. I covered two boards in grey book cloth and used them as back and front covers for the pop-up sections which I literally just stuck together. Simple structure which seemed quite interesting against the e-book I made alongside it. More on that in a bit.

Exploring Structures - Pop-Up

2011-11-16T03:07:00.001-08:00

Pop Up
A recent idea for a project left me with the conclusion I needed to make a pop-up book. Having never really attempted any pop-up book structures before I have just been playing around with simple practice runs on single sheets of paper; I think I have a long way to go!

first one, totally went wrong!

this was better but still not right

this one with the thinner pop-up band is much better and closer to a more professional look, but still; nothing amazing!

So I think for this project my blind blunders into the world of pop-up might suffice, as it is to be as simple a structure as possible. I will post more when I have had time to actually put some tests together in a book form to check they will still open the way I want them to... wish me luck, or send me tips if you have any handy hints to give me!

Traces

2011-11-13T06:01:00.001-08:00

Following up on this post, and working on a short brief for uni, I have been playing around with tracing paper and transparency sheets again.

[In these pictures I have been using my cutting board as a starting point; it is the place where most of my books get constructed and as such it has a book history to it. Many traces are left behind upon its surface. As I draw and trace the lines and marks onto the paper I feel like I am the conservationist or archivist who is documenting all the traces and damage to a particular document or object. As you look through the book you can see to the next page and the pages beyond; it is as if you are looking through time.]

[In these next pictures I have been experimenting with tracing parts of my own artistic archive, notebooks, slides, photos etc... They are not yet compiled into a book form as I am trying to find a suitable book structure that would compliment the content. Maybe re-working them into their own archive structure would be appropriate and would continue the cycle.]

Don't shoot me; I bought a KINDLE!

2011-11-09T14:48:00.000-08:00

Ok, so yes I am a book lover, a bibliophile; but I love all books, and that includes reading machines too.

So here I have my new Kindle, my new toy! One of the first books I have read on it was made by a fellow MA student, if you have a Kindle I recommend it, you can find it here.

I've been busy with my course, and starting some new work; here are some images that might explain some of the past week or so, including a pic of me after the very energetic 'Neckbreakers Ball' gig I went to on Monday night [lots of head-banging]...

a group of our books pressing & drying after a bookbinding class

a collaboration made by the whole course during our letterpress induction workshop

wild hair...

To The Power of Three - Part One

2011-10-27T13:51:00.001-07:00

Linky Day

2011-10-24T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so its been a very linky day. My colleagues on the MA have set up a Facebook page where we can discuss stuff and post links etc.. to each other and others. Might be interesting to dip into for anyone interested in Book Arts...

click here to visit the page; please do 'like' it if you want to keep up with the many linky posts!

Summer seems to be turning into a distant memory; here is a pic from the mini heatwave we had at the very beginning of October, seems like so long ago!

Right, time for more studying, thinking, reading, and writing....

South London Gallery - Fax - A Review

2011-10-15T07:10:00.000-07:00

The South London Gallery is right next door to my new University home and it has many great aspects. Not only does it have some very intriguing exhibitions, but it has a fantastic bookshop and extremely nice cafe. I have a feeling I will be frequenting that airy but cosy cafe alot during this year; the food is just wonderful and the staff are so friendly!

There are two exhibitions on at the SLG at the moment but I'm only going to talk about the one upstairs, above the cafe. 'Fax' is part of the show called Independent Curators International Presents Fax and Project 35 - for now I am most concerned with 'Fax'. The below piece of text was copied from the ICI website and describes the premise of the show:

"FAX is an evolving exhibition that started in New York in 2009, and continues to be reconfigured, expanded, and localized as it is presented—often simultaneously—in venues worldwide. FAX invites artists, architects, designers, scientists, and filmmakers to think of the fax machine as a drawing tool, resulting in an exhibition concerned with ideas of reproduction, obsolescence, distribution, and mediation. Through the infinitely reproducible, yet erratic outcomes of producing works via the fax machine, this show displaces traditional notions of the hand that are still commonly associated with the medium of drawing, and instead foregrounds drawing as a generative process."

The exhibition as it stands in the SLG has a certain intrigue as you enter the room, drawing you in to survey the walls bedecked with reams of A4 paper facsimiles, and the table in the centre of the room with a fax machine atop it and open file binders filling the rest of the surface. [you can see more images here] I, of course, am drawn first to the table and the binders; flicking through them is satisfying, like being let loose in a room full of archival material.

The retro feel you get from seeing piles of faxes with their distinct headers and footers, reinforces that feeling that this could be items within an archive; old material kept in binders, and yet the binders are new and the plastic wallets that hold the papers are not archival. This ongoing collection of faxed drawings is slowly being curated into files, book-like in their structure, each new artist starts their fax with a section heading, declaring who they are, the title of the piece if there is one, and any contact info; these sections are like chapters building up the narrative of this almost obsolete method of communication. The narrative is disjointed though, some of the artists have quite obviously played on the ephemeral nature of the fax, focusing on the mistakes that can occur, the black and white basic reproduction of the sheet placed into a fax machine, errors that are very similar to that of the photocopier. This play with facsimile hiccups is present in several 'chapters' dotted around the exhibition and for me this provides a kind of narrative that I look for within an exhibition of this kind.

Visually the room is interesting, despite the very black and whiteness of the work. The room itself has a large window and 3 usable walls, it reminds me of an office space within a converted town house, quite apt for this show I think. The table in the centre looks like it was made especially for the show, bare wood, resembling a drawing or designers table, at just the right height for comfortable viewing of the files. Some of the 'chapters' are pinned to the walls with clear cork board pins, the pages are displayed in varying arrangements, sometimes the artist has given specific direction to how they wish the pages to be hung if their work ended up on the wall rather than the binders. One section runs from near the top of the wall downwards to the floor and carries on along the floor towards our feet; some seem set out in a storyboard fashion while others are just left to right sequential. This variation gives the impression of a kind of research room, perhaps an editorial design office where chapters are pinned up in random ways to help the editor find links and threads of narrative which might determine an order to the whole book. This thought leads to imagining the room as the book, the container of pages of information; the curator(s) as editor.

Overall I am most interested with the idea of the exhibition, the way it has been assembled, the curation of it rather than the actual content of those sheets of faxed paper. Some of the works I enjoy thoroughly but you have to wade through the ones that seem like scribbles made by an artist who hasn't really had time to engage with the subject of the show. I suppose large group shows are always going to have elements of them that one does not like or understand, and with over 300 artists involved with this project to date that's alot of potential for running into artists whose work does not hold your interest.

Ephemeral Pamphlets

2011-10-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

In particular the religious kind. You know the ones. Fanatical religious groups who produce badly made leaflets, with bad imagery, that get thrust into your hands as you leave the train station, or that get put through your letterbox. They are a form of ephemeral information distribution that almost everyone is familiar with.

I've had this particular one for a while. It was in my studio, thrust into the hands of my studio-mate sometime in the summer, and has been sitting around for a while. I haven't actually read it, I was more intrigued by the design of it. The proclamation on the front along with the terrible and somewhat scary image. The paper used and the format of the folding. It is giving me an idea....

Palimpsests and Traces [of Conservation]

2011-10-13T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking of the palimpset as a book structure on and off for a year or so; I even considered it to use and research as part of the BAO edition 2 project but I pushed it aside for later. I think that maybe later is now. I have just stumbled across these conservation videos from the Walters Art Museum about the 'Archimedes Palimpsest' which just intrigue me so much. And it is not just the sight of such an old tome that excites me.

This video below has a particularly interesting part at the end where she is using clear plastic transparency paper to mark off where the previous binding holes are. This as a form of mark-making very much speaks to me. It reminds me of the aesthetics of the contents page I made as part of the Robinson Papers; traces being traced to form a disembodied record; perhaps this is something that I need to take forward.

This video here also shows the same pen on transparency technique; mapping the damage to the manuscript. Maybe I need to talk to someone on the Conservation MA about this technique; find out more about it.

There is also this video on Vimeo which shows the pen to transparency technique more clearly. Aren't books fascinating?!

this is a picture of the 'contents page' of The Robinson Papers

A New Beginning

2011-10-13T04:03:00.000-07:00

So as most of you readers know I am embarking on a postgraduate MA course in Book Arts at the University of the Arts, London (Camberwell College) - It started this week and the past few days have been filled with new things. Meeting new people, new routes through London, navigating new buildings and discovering new cafes (very important!), being given so much information about the coming year that my brain hasn't quite been able to take it all in yet.
Yesterday all the visual art MA students, full and part time, met. Amongst the part-timers on my course I finally got to meet an old internet friend! Mandy (aka Feltbug) and I have been 'contacts' on Flickr for what must be years and it was so good to meet her yesterday and know that we will be following this course together. Check out her work, its very interesting.

So anyway, new starts. The picture above is of my new backpack (a must have when potentially travelling to and from college with a laptop and books); it looks so cool, I just hope it lasts for a long time. The image below is of a book I am reading at the moment which I picked up from the South London Gallery's bookshop, and the two mini sketchbook/notepads I bought from the university's art shop for a bargain price of 40p each....

Right, so now I am planning a trip to a private view tonight with my new classmates and also want to go to the uni library to discover the wonders within... busy busy...

Copying, Re-editing, Re-writing, Rote

2011-10-10T05:22:00.000-07:00

The work for Al-Mutanabbi Street has developed; hand-copying, rote learning, the act of re-producing data is in itself a very interesting process for me. The things that get left out, the mistakes, the way the eye sees and transmits this information into something else, suddenly become of interest. The why? of copying something by hand in this technological age, and then the why? again of using a method of reproduction to make more.

It is a simple idea, not a beautiful one, but it is a something I want to follow through. The Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition project has seen so many beautiful broadsides and artists' books made, but I have been interested in producing something that speaks of what you might have found on that street before the bombing started; pirated copies of books, cheaply photocopied pamphlets, democratic multiples of literature that was perhaps banned, or even literature that wasn't, but produced cheaply so that distribution could be wide spread. Also stationary, pens, paper, exercise books for school boys to use for their homework.

Using a school handwriting pen and 3 cheap exercise books and print outs of the first 3 pages of google search results using the search term 'Al-Mutanabbi Street'. I am searching google web, google books and google scholar; one for each exercise book. When this is done I will bring them to another form of reproduction; the photocopier...

I forgot to say (for those who don't read the bookartobject blog) that I did two write ups of my trip to the London Art Book Fair; you can read all about it here for Day 1, and here for Days 2&3. It was great this year, so much going on with lots more interesting talks alongside, also lots of local bookshops and galleries were putting on related shows so it was a wonderfully packed weekend. Hopefully next year is just as good; it's on the up!

Sara MacKillop display at Donlon Books

Al-Mutanabbi Street Book Project - To the Power of Three

2011-09-28T04:39:00.000-07:00

I'm nearly at the end of this project; I have had almost a year to think about it, and now I am trying to make it before my course starts.
Here are some mock up's of the final idea. 3 pamphlet style booklets, that will be printed on very cheap paper on my home printer, or even photocopied perhaps, staple bound.

i. Google Web ii. Google Images iii. Google Books

Information as content. Information as material. Information edited and reused.

More soon.

EDIT:

Sooner than I had thought!

I have been thinking about this more today after posting this and realise that another idea I had would make more sense. It's has the same basis; content as information, repeated, copied and redistributed information. I was writing this earlier and making this and listening to this and it all came together in my head. Al-Mutanabbi Street wasn't just a hub for selling books, shops also sold stationary, especially exercise books for kids to use at school. Now I love using cheap exercise books as my notebooks, there is something characteristic about them, and Sarah Bodman used one to write her 100 stories that she buried in the forest as per instructed by Kurt Johannessen. It makes sense to me to use this simple product in this project. It is an item that is used by children growing up all over the world, to copy, to practice and use in their learning. And copying is what this google idea is all about; using information from google searches, copying it out and using that as content. Instead of typing it all out as I have been doing, why not handwrite it, copy it out in an exercise book like we used to copy words and sentences at school while learning to write? So maybe my idea is growing in that direction now.

The Robinson Papers - Documentation

2011-09-26T06:09:00.000-07:00

I have finally got around to compiling all the documentation and everyone at Book Art Object that should have received a copy now has, so now I am able to show you what it is I have spent that past year thinking about and making!

I would just like to thank my partner Rick for helping me with writing a letter as part of the work and for filming and editing this short film. Also special thanks to Selene and Emma who gave their time to help with other parts of the work.

The Robinson Papers A Fictional Archive Bookwork by Abigail Thomas for BookArtObject Edition Two

An edition of 15

[there are a limited number available to purchase - please contact me if you are interested - everyweekness(at)gmail(dot)com]

“We Are Book Arts” : Camberwell Book Art MA Show Review

2011-09-20T04:32:00.000-07:00

Walkingthrough the three rooms that were assigned to the 2011 Book Art MAartists you

geta real sense of the calming off whiteness of paper, imbued with thesurety of the

printedword and image. The larger room is dominated by two ceiling to floorpieces; an

ephemeralhanging paper installation by Wiebke Kowal next to a book where thewords

literallycame tumbling out of the covers, cascading down in rivulets of textwhich pool on

thefloor, very reminiscent of a piece displayed in the V&A in 2007by the artist Lu

Shengzhongi,but while Lu's piece consisted of empty paper, devoid of text,Jukhee's is a

sculptureof an altered book, each shower of paper formed by printed words and

sentences,like the book is trying to speak.

Book Surgery, 2011, Jukhee Kwon

Inbook art exhibitions I find it is often, if not always, imperativethat a curator or artist

paysa great deal of attention to the display of each book. Each piece inthis show has

beenexhibited very skilfully, with time spent finding the best way topresent the pieces to

theviewer. One of the works where display is particularly well achievedis a book by

ImogenChester called CrossingBorders whichhas been presented quite simply on a

shelf/standon the wall, open at the middle spread of pages. The book itself,made of

fibrouspaper with no difference for the covers, is simply bound with apamphlet stitch.

Theedges of the pages are covered in what looks like sticky tape whichmakes turning the

thinpages easier, more inviting as it is less likely to be damaged ormarked by dirty

fingers.The content of the book is solely image based, registration pointswere clearly

visibleround the edge of the printed pictures, which are mainly photographsof travel

documentswhich suggested migration.

Crossing Borders, 2011, Imogen Chester

Onthe wall and floor she has used yellow and black patterned parceltape to mask off an

areaaround the piece and the shelf it's sitting on. This is evocative ofthe line, or hashed

boxthat is drawn on the pavement surrounding cash-points; both invitingyou to step

insideand also to keep your distance. In the gallery the viewer is invitedto crossthe

border,to break the boundary and step inside the space allocated to interactwith the

book.While one viewer is within this area the tape border acts as abarrier to stop others

fromcrowding around and entering that sacred space and reduces the riskof breaking the

oneto book experience with the work.

Immersive City, 2011, Chao Kang

ChaoKang's piece ImmersiveCity consistedof a lightbox on a table top in a darkened

room,8 books spread out beside the box. Embossed white paper sandwichedsquare

transparenciesto form each page, bound together with an open spine binding in red

thread.The books can each be placed by the viewer onto the light box inorder to read

thepages with light behind them. Each page turn adds or subtracts fromthe main image.

Layersare stripped away to reveal images that could stand alone, bothhaving a certain

beauty.The images themselves play with elements of the city; blurred lightsin the night

timeor hazy urban buildings looming through the fog. I love the way thepiece invites

interaction,even if it is just the simple act of choosing which book to look atfirst and

placingit upon the light source in order to see the images, it feels likeyou are selecting a

windowto look through onto an unknown city.

Portraits, 2011, Renée Fisher

RenéeFisher's wall based piece Portraitsisanother piece where precise installation and

displaywas obviously essential, it shows fragments of text; printed, typedand handwritten

dottedover a white wall, some pinned within old picture frames, torn offscraps glued into

thecorner of the backing board leaving an expanse of empty brownchipboard to fill the

restof the frame. Cardboard is nailed to the wall, cut out printedsentences are paperclipped and taped to the card backing, spillingover the edge to the wall. One off centre frame holds an accordionbook which is spilt open to drop down, the back cover board hangingjust below the floor. The pages are filled with a sprawling concretepoetry style writing.

Detail from Portraits, 2011, Renée Fisher

Contemplativetext but broken up into small bite size sentences that form shapesacross

thepage. The writing itself seems like fragments of poetry, someelements seem like

excerptsof an autobiography that have been ripped out of a document and beenfound

crumpledin the waste paper basket of a bedroom. These personal fragments oftext are

givenstatus by being framed and hung on a wall, and yet the frames areincomplete, the

paperpieces do not fit, some have even just been directly nailed to thewall; and so the

elevationthey were given has been somewhat torn down again. Arranged how theyare its

asif the visual poem from the wall bound book has escaped to formoffshoots; an

installationas poetry on a surface, perhaps the wall is a page?

Backin the largest gallery room, fighting for space, could be found abook by Christa

Harris,but the only way you would know that it is by her is if you found andread the wall

labelwhich depicts her real name. The book on first glance, sat upon a lowplinth or

coffeetable style table is a published work on the state of Book Art today;the title being

Formand Content by Sarah Richirst. Flickingthrough the semi glossy pages you see work by different artists andthe authors comments upon them, reviews of artists' books from aroundthe book art world. And yet I do not recognise any of the names orthe images of the books; I get suspicious; “why is a non fictionbook on artists' books being shown as a piece of art in its ownright, and why can't I find this 'Sarah Richirst' in my catalogue?”- the answer dawns on me as I rush to find the artists' name label onthe wall nearby: 'Christa Harris'... I turn to the inside cover pageof the book in my hands, it confirms my suspicions that 'this is awork of fiction, all resemblance to those mentioned within it isentirely coincidental...'. I sheepishly look up to see if anyonewitnessed my realisation that the artist had in fact made the wholething up herself, every book art piece written about in thisfictional-non-fiction-book was in fact made by her and then reviewedby her; artist as author, artist as other artists and artist aspublisher.

Excerpt from Form and Content by Sarah Richirst, 2011, Christa Harris

I instantly think of the conceptual artist Jamie Shovlinwho makes fakes and fictions as work. His 2005 exhibition was acollection of works supposedly created by NaomiV Jellishii,aschoolgirl who had disappeared leaving behind an accumulation ofdrawings and letters, was in fact a beautiful fake, all created byhimself; the name of the girl being an anagram of his name, just asChrista Harris has turned her name into SarahRichirst.While it is clear that while Shovlin makes his work to deceive andseem completely believable, Harris' work states at the start of thebook that the piece is a falsity, a fictional deceit, but it is onethat is easily found out. This truth suggests you should take thecontent of the book with a pinch of salt, perhaps the artist istrying to make a comment on the real non fiction books of it's kind,a jab at the way reviewers write and how they portray the artists andtheir work on a glossy page of a magazine or coffee table book.

Theexhibition as a whole seems a little close but then with so manystudents in one

buildingit would be very hard to find adequate space for such a show. Despitethe space

situationI think the artists have found both ingenious as well as wonderfullysimple ways

ofdisplaying what can be very intimidating art objects to exhibit. Isaw a fantastic level of

viewerparticipation during my visits to the show which is a trulyencouraging thing to see

inan exhibition dominated by book art. As an exhibition of highlyconceptual works of art

itfeels that this postgraduate course is most definitely following thepath of book art

theoryand artistic practice. Rather than concentrating on the craft ofbinding books it

seemsto concentrate on the discussions surrounding what a book is now, itsfunction, its

role.I look forward to seeing more from these artists in the future, I amsure their names

willcontinue to pop up; keep your book art eyes peeled!

Youcan find out more about the artists mentioned here as well as theothers in the show

ontheir collective website: http://www.wearebookarts.co.uk/

iSee the book “Out of the Ordinary: Spectacular Craft” by LaurieBritton Newell, V&A Publications, 2007.

Publishedto coincide with the exhibition of the same name.

iiSee the website constructed for the exhibition in 2005 by JamieShovlin:

http://www.naomivjelish.org.uk/homepage.htm

* This review will also appear in the November issue of the Book Arts Newsletter *

Time

2011-09-13T12:23:00.000-07:00

Just having some time off. Got a nasty cold, bleurrgh.....

Be back on track soon.

Ink

2011-09-06T01:29:00.000-07:00

So I drew with ink in the studio today, on both papers and cloth. I want to layer them into some kind of a book when they are dry. I just love the way ink on a brush flows over thin paper.

There are more photos on flickr if you want to see any more! See my sidebar for the link >>>>>>>>>>>>

Eastbourne Day Trip

2011-09-05T02:32:00.000-07:00

I went to the seaside at the weekend, not to see the sea (although I do love seeing the sea when I can), but to see this exhibition, and listen to a talk by this artist. It was well worth the trip out of London; they had good tea in the cafe too!

Apparently that was the last of the summer weather, from now on its Autumn; wet, windy and cold.

Research for Al Mutanabbi St - Artist Gail Rieke

2011-09-05T01:52:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the randomness of Tumblr I have discovered an artist who's work really sings to me right now; Gail Rieke. I would link to her website but it doesn't seem to be working right now.

This image is of a piece of hers called 'Ledger Bundle'; so see why i'm so interested in her work now, right?

Done and Dusted

2011-09-01T07:21:00.000-07:00

So my BAO is done and dusted and in the post! Woo hoo! I will show pictures and do a full lo-down on the piece when the BAO contributors have received their copies.

I have been trying to make Bento box lunches for my partner and I to take to our studios everyday, so far its every other day but hey; better than no lunch at all, huh?

and this cute fella is a Korean biscuit; bought from the Japan Centre in Central London; love that place!

Right time for some job applications, and maybe having a play with some of the ideas I've had for the next project; Al Mutanabbi Street.

On to the next project...

2011-08-29T04:36:00.000-07:00

So I sent off the first finished BAO project last week. The rest are soon to follow when they are done, the end is so close. So close I am starting on the next project already; Al Mutanabbi Street.

Just some ideas. Will work on the them as soon as the last BAO edition is posted.

The end is in sight

2011-08-16T01:45:00.000-07:00

Not quite there yet, but almost. For now some teasers.

I have also been busy over on my textile blog recently. I set up a shop for selling my cloth work and textile supplies and am busy promoting that. I have a *giveaway* over at fibres to felt so if you are textile minded as well as paper and book minded go and have a look, leave a comment and be in with a chance of winning one of these Harvest Moon Nuno Felt Patches:

Right, now its time to finish this fictional archive beast and post it!

BAO in progress - fictional archive

2011-08-01T09:44:00.001-07:00

After the storm its back to work!

Last day of Open Studios

2011-07-31T02:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from yesterday; some sneak previews of unfinished BAO project work out on display in the studio too.... had some good responses yesterday; someone wants to interview me for their thesis on artists and archives, some others were just very interested in my work so thats always nice! Hope today isn't as hot because we were roasting in our studio yesterday!

Studio ready and Open

2011-07-30T01:00:00.001-07:00

So I'm ready, the studio is tidy and clean! Last nights opening evening was really busy and I met some really interesting people, so I hope today and tomorrow are the same. Midday to 6pm if you want to try to make it down to say hi.

Open Studios 2011

2011-07-25T14:21:00.000-07:00

Hi all, sorry its been so long! Things have been crazy; if you read any of my other blogs you will have been able to piece together why I have been away from this blog for so long! Firstly I was made redundant from my day job, then I had my sisters wedding to prepare for (had to make so many things),

handmade teacosies

handmade ribbon

handmade confetti

and then I was on holiday

tea and cake in the holiday cottage

holiday cottage in the middle of nowhere; lovely!

and now its now and I am preparing for the annual Hackney Wicked festival where I will be opening my studio doors

tea area in studio

and welcoming people in to see what I have been up to recently, where I work and possibly me in action.

So, you can download map from the website, or they will be handed out at the overground tube station on all days.

When: Fri 29th July (this Friday) from 6pm onwards, Sat 30th July from midday to 6pm and the same on Sunday 31st.

Where: Studio 9.5, Floor D, Level 3, Mother Studios, Queens Yard, White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, East London (very close to Hackney Wick overground station).

Would be wonderful to see you there!

Monoprints

2011-05-16T13:38:00.000-07:00

Just needed to unplug from the BAO project for a little while and play. Experiments below:

onto a photo

onto canvas (close up below)

onto canvas (I intend to stitch into this one)

onto cnavas (will stitch into this one too)

onto paper

onto interfacing fabric (will stitch into this also)

onto another photo

Studio Sunday - printing play time!

2011-05-15T06:32:00.001-07:00

Time for some mono printing!

Walter Benjamin & more BAO studio work

2011-05-03T12:01:00.000-07:00

So Walter Benjamin. He was a very cool guy. A book called Walter Benjamin's Archive came out a year or two ago and it is a wonderful collection of his archived documents. Such a visual feast. Just wanted to mention it because I have been leafing through it every so often and it has given me so many ideas for this BAO project.

Book Cover

I especially like this page:

Archive document on the left; transcription on the right

I have been in the studio a bit today, working towards BAO of course. Here are some images.

Scrawled notes on a torn out book page

I also went to pick up the photos of the inscriptions for the book work and also went to the stationary shop (again!) and had some fun in there, getting the rest of my supplies for finishing BAO.

My stationary shop hoard - mostly for BAO

My favourite find; old, battered subscription cards

Photos developed for BAO - mini size - 4"x3"

Blackboard paint - for the research wall

As you can see I had fun! Still much to do but slowly getting there and its coming together. Ordered the white gloves and files (not boxes) and they are in the post. Exciting.

A trip to BABE 2011

2011-05-02T03:16:00.000-07:00

If you are a book artist in the UK and don't know what BABE is then you should! BABE stands for Bristol Artists' Book Event which is held biannually in Bristol's Arnolfini gallery. This is the first one I have been able to come to, only as a visitor this time but perhaps in 2013 I will be there behind a table.

Reading latest issue of BAN on the train to BABE

It was a beautiful, if chilly, day to adventure out of London on the train. It was a 2 hour train journey which gave me plenty of time to catch up on the latest BAN (Book Arts Newsletter), which is always a treat, as well as starting to read a book I picked up at a launch at Artwords bookshop earlier in the week; Phantom Settlements is a book published by Ditto press and edited by Catrin Morgan. But I digress.

The Arnolfini was only a 15min walk from the station and is located on the waterfront of the harbour docks in an old warehouse. I managed to walk in the side entrance about 5mins after the doors opened into the first room full of booksellers. The table I was most interested in in that room (after arriving just 2 mins before!) was that of the artist duo Reassemble. Sheena was the one holding the fort that day and I spent a good 20/30 mins just on their table trying to decide which books to buy, asking her questions and generally getting in the way of everyone else looking! Their books a generally all monoprinted, and as such are each completely unique, or as they put it "never the same book twice".

I ended up buying two A5 size books, a smaller one and a tiny one that is one sheet that folds out. All the books are made with newsprint which gives a lovely feel to the pages. I have always loved the way monoprints act on newsprint and I am so glad to have found someone else who feels the same. My only worry is how long the newsprint will last before becoming brittle but then again all the pages are completely covered in print and ink in layers and layers of overprinting so perhaps that will protect and seal the paper...

After that purchase I bumped into Nancy Campbell who I met a few years ago (in Bristol again) at a Book Arts conference at UWE. It was great to catch up with her briefly, but the books were calling to us both so we headed our separate ways. I went up to the next floor of the gallery to the largest spread of tables. So many lovely books, but not much money! While deep in my book hunting mode, with I am ashamed to say, hardly a glance at the artists behind each desk, I saw a book I was really intrigued by, checking the name of the artist I realised I knew her. Having never really met (email correspondence only) I hadn't recognised her; Jo Moore makes work under the imprint Peach Tree, Pear Tree Press and I know her because she wrote a piece of text for my Micro-Pages exhibition catalogue a few years ago. We chatted for a good while and I bought one of her books that has text printed on tracing paper (love that).

A page from Stills

After Jo I moved on round the rest of that floor, just admiring and chatting to a few people. My brain started to melt after that so I decided to leave the top floor until after a cup of tea so I went off to the cafe and bumped into Nancy again so we had a proper catch up over tea and cake.

It was getting really busy by that point so I sought the refuge of BABL; Bibliotherapy Artists' Book Library is a library in a vintage van driven around and looked after by the artist Lucy May Schofield. I stupidly didn't take a photo of the van, sorry guys, hopefully Lucy will put up some up to date photos of her beautiful mobile library on her tumblr blog soon. It was parked just outside the gallery next to the waterfront and was just what I needed to get away from the bustle for 10 minutes. Lucy taught me some basic bookbinding skills a few years back so I promised to come back to the van later to catch up with her. I had to dash off to a tour/talk that was being led by the Arnolfini's archivist Julian Warren. He talked about Arnolfini's latest project to enliven their archive. Cover-ed is their current exhibition/event series which shows original Ed Ruscha books alongside a plethora of book works that artists have produce after Ruscha. Ruscha certainly has inspired many many people in the book arts world. One of the events was to rein-act the original book with a twist and a new book was produced entitled Salad Dressing. I won't go into detail because otherwise this post will go on forever! Follow the links for more info. After the talk I had a little wander in their archive reading room (a very nice little space) and then outside for another break. Lucy was still there with BABL so I went inside for a browse and a catch up (lots of catching up happened at this event!), the van/library was such an oasis of calm, if you ever get the chance to go inside it on its wandering tour of the UK then do, you will not regret it.

So that was my day, after that I had a wander and went home on the train with my bags of goodies! Thanks to everyone for a great day. And thanks to all your blog readers who have read the whole of this long rambling post!

'Future of Libraries' talk

2011-04-23T02:25:00.000-07:00

This is the second 'future of libraries' talk I have been to in the last few months. Was good, relevant and I was going to do a write up but this lovely librarian has done such a good job I thought it would be best to just link to his!

http://thoughtsofawannabelibrarian.wordpress.com/2011/04/22/no-furniture-so-charming-the-future-for-libraries/

It was part of the London Word Festival which is on at the moment. Several things I wanted to go to but can't afford to go to them all and almost all of them are ticketed. . . shame in this climate that there were not more free events.

SFCB Blog & Tumblr

2011-04-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

I'm loving this blog right now. this post in particular: http://sfcb.org/blog/2011/04/10/books-and-bookboxes-by-joanne-b-kaar/

Check it out if you love book arts.

Also; after Ronnie started her Tumblr blog I decided it was cool and started one too; good for shouting out about little links etc.... come follow us both; mine is here: http://everyweekness.tumblr.com/

Warburg's Mnemosyne Atlas

2011-04-17T03:47:00.000-07:00

Aby Warburg was an art historian, but he was also interested in how historians researched art and so set up his own library; this was organised in a very unique way, not by subject or alphabetically but by affinities that only he was able to explain in any detail. His big unfinished project was the Mnemosyne Atlas which was an extension of his strange and different library classification scheme. As you can see from the images below he created panels covered in black cloth to which he pinned photographs and postcards. A visual research board where certain paintings related to each other; where images had relationships with each other that they might not otherwise have had.

These boards were always only meant to be the start of the project, eventually he wanted to create some kind of book to explain his theories. This never happened as he died and then the boards were lost when his colleagues were fleeing the Nazi's; as with Kurt Schwitters' lifelong project the Merzbau, only the photographs remain.

While working on this BAO project I have been drawn back to Warburg's project and the way it shows how a researcher thinks and works; making connections between seemingly unrelated images, events, theories, ideas etc... So as a 'page' of this archive book I want to stage a photograph of Miss Emma Robinson, my made up researcher at her research desk, behind the desk will be her research wall, looking very similar to one of Warburg's Mnemosyne panels. Here it is so far; I am building it up in my studio as we speak:

Visual Research - Archives

2011-04-16T02:32:00.000-07:00

BAO studio day

2011-04-11T05:05:00.001-07:00

7 rubbings of the inscription done. 8 to go.

From Link to Link

2011-04-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

Not feeling well today so I've been in bed jumping from link to link. This series of links started here at Stitchwork Jackie's blog and this led me onto Susan Mills (book artist) wonderful website which has some wonderful little videos of her books; my favourite of hers is Garden Ledger. While searching her website I found a link to her project with Full Tilt where she interviews artists and others about books and bookbinding: http://www.bookbindingnow.com/ I started listening to the interview with The Reanimation Library which of course led me onto their website;

The Reanimation Library is a small, independent library based in Brooklyn. It is a collection of books that have fallen out of mainstream circulation. Outdated and discarded, they have been culled from thrift stores, stoop sales, and throw-away piles across the country and given new life as resource material for artists, writers, and other cultural archeologists.

This is a really intriguing project which I am sure I will come back to when I start researching for my MA.
I also listened to the Emily Speed interview, which reminded me to check her website again as I haven't been on there recently. I noticed in her news section that she is part of an exhibition soon called Texture of Time which I will have to go to as it also includes another artist I like; Joby Williamson.
Lots to think about now and more link exploring, as well as sneezing, I am sure!

Artists who use the Archive: Sue Johnson

2011-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Since getting a bit 'obsessed' by using the Archive in my work I have been researching other artists who use this as part of their practice. I will be doing a series of posts on each artist I find interesting.
One of my favourite artists, and a recent discovery, is Sue Johnson; her work is very varied but it seems she often uses book art as a form and museums and archives as departure points.
Quaking Aspen Vol. 1 is an artists' book in the form of an archive box file, as an edition of 20. What I assume are letterpressed manilla files hold found documents creating an archive of unknown significance, a cabinet of curiosity in paper form.

Menagerie is a series of prints of boxed objects which take on another aspect of the cabinet of curiosity and remind me of Joseph Cornell's work.

I guess I really connect with Sue's work because it follows similar lines to my own practice and where my research and ideas are taking me. The archive box editions are very close to the kind of thing I am doing with the BAO project at the moment, especially as it is an edition and not a one off like many archive-like works are. This idea of reproducing a one off archive as a series of multiples touches on several threads of interest; one stems from the whole Walter Benjamin / John Berger thoughts on art reproduction, the idea that a work of art is lessened when in multiplicity; another comes from the archive being now thought of as having an affinity with libraries, and so with books, and the printing press, a place that was created for reproduction purposes.

Sue's object boxes are similar to my own 'bundles project', a work in progress which is evolving into some sort of cabinet of curiosity type of sculpture/installation which has the possibility to grow into some sort of cataloguing project which might end up in a artists' book...

Anyway, that is the first artist I wanted to discuss with you in relation to my own work. Hope you have fun discovering her website as I did and I really hope I get to see her work in the flesh at some point soon.

Abigail

BAO (Book Art Object) project inscription photos

2011-03-06T14:22:00.000-08:00

Been taking photos; using the ruler and some coins to give an idea of scale like they do professionally. And there it is in an archive box; looking old.

Just playing around

2011-03-06T08:20:00.001-08:00

Studio sunday. Playing with display ideas.

more BAO stuff

2011-02-23T14:33:00.000-08:00

Some more images from the busy studio day yesterday. Mostly BAO project stuff. 15 lengths (1.65m each) of hand stamped cotton archive tape using archival ink and my favourite rubber stamps. Thats alot of stamping I can tell you! At least 4 or 5 copies of "Robinson Papers" on each length.

And another pic of the tablet inscription in progress.

For more images visit my flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/abithomas/sets/72157626032069446/

Creating an inscription

2011-02-22T04:38:00.001-08:00

In the studio at the moment. Creating the fake tablet.

Gathering Archival Materials and Doing Research of my Own

2011-02-12T06:08:00.000-08:00

For the BAO project so far I have gathered or bought solid brass paperclips (archival - wont rust), post it note strips for book marking and note taking, small plastic ziplock sample bags, 3 pens; one red, one blue and one archival ink black pen, cotton tying tape (the type libraries and archives use to tie up bundles of documents and falling apart books), brown Fimo modelling clay (to make a tablet with inscriptions on to photograph) and two journals (as seen in the last photo; to use as the pretend researcher's diary and notebook).

As you can see from the images I have also been busy doing a bit of research into inscriptions, scripts, lost languages, and deciphering. Easy really as I work in a museum library by day! Can you see why this project is making me so excited?

I have decided that the pretend archive will consist of notes, photos etc..from a pretend researcher of the Library of Alexandria, and her name will be Miss Emma Robinson.
So, I now need to:

make up a script/language
create a clay tablet with that script inscribed into it using the Fimo
photograph that tablet
take rubbings from the tablet
start writing a diary and deciphering notebook as if I was Miss Emma Robinson (the pretend researcher in the Library of Alexandria)
find suitable, inexpensive A5 boxes
perhaps set up a photo shoot of myself (or a friend) posing as Miss Emma Robinson at work; perhaps holding the clay tablet or writing her notes
find my old fountain pen and try to get black ink for it and make it work

There are probably many other things I need to do but I can't list them all; for one it would be boring for you all to read it and for another I would be here all day! Anyway, here is just a little taster of things to come. Hope you are enjoying the insights into the way I think and work. More soon.

BAO project - ideas in detail

2011-02-07T11:41:00.000-08:00

Me again. Here is the full info on what's been going on in my head and in my hands today:

After deliberating over using clay, fimo, etc... to make an inscribed tablet, and not being able to make my mind up over what book structure to use, and worrying about not being able to live up to the other amazing BAO artist's standards, and spending time in my studio surrounded by all my 'stuff' I suddenly thought to myself "What are you doing?! Do what you enjoy! Make what you like to make, what you find interesting, what you are passionate about! Make an ARCHIVE!"

It is a text about a library after all...

After looking at some photocopy research I had done a few weeks back of Paul Klee's work on pictograms and glyphs and also seeing again the work of Steve McPherson in Sarah Bodman's book Creating Artists' Books I felt overcome with ideas and enthusiasm.

I want to be able to recreate a fake archive of a researcher who may have used the library at Alexandria at the time the Winterson text is describing. Perhaps in a box, or in a file? I will need to be able to recreate the same archive 15 times so it was important to do a trial run to see what things I will be able to easily reproduce repeatedly and which I will have to leave out.

Now these images are of what I have been doing today in my studio. This is a mock up, a run through, a solid sketch. I needed to make what was in my head to see if it actually was going to work.

I think I know how to go about it now, and it feels so right, so right for this project, so right for me.

It is going to be so much fun!

Book Art Object project-archive glyph research book

2011-02-07T07:36:00.001-08:00

Finally in the studio. Funny how ideas seem to come together so quickly here. Very exciting. So ive been working on ideas that encapsulate the Winterson text. Ladders and the written word were two important factors that came out. I was thinking of how to encorporate clay tablet enscriptions into a editioned piece but decided its too fragile. Then i thought, hang on, an archive! The text speaks of a library, researchers, why not?! So now its me thinking how to recreate a made up archive of materials 15 times, but to look unique. Easy. . .

Notes to Self - BAO Project Ideas

2011-01-08T09:13:00.000-08:00

Book Art Object ideas; notes slowly forming, rough sketches in lunch breaks at work, waiting for time in the studio. Cuneiform, Alexandria Library, Ladders; all catalysts in the idea process.

ABoT - Artists' Books on Tour

2011-01-08T09:07:00.000-08:00

ABoT are calling for entries; there is still time to apply. I haven't done so yet but plan to! Open to all European Artists.
http://www.abot.mak.at/
The following was text taken from their website:

THE PROJECT

To create more public awareness for the book as an independent genre of art production, the EU-funded project"Artists' Books on Tour - Artist Competition and Mobile Museum" was launched in June 2010 by the MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art (Vienna) with the MGLC - International Centre of Graphic Arts (Ljubljana)and the UPM - Museum of Decorative Arts (Prague). The core activities of the project cover

the implementation of a competition among European artists
the evaluation of the results by an international jury awarding the best submissions
the presentation of selected works in a "Mobile Museum" touring several European cities

TIMELINE

Registration
Submission
Jury session
Realization of winning concepts
ABoT Award Nite in Vienna

December 1st, 2010 - February 28th, 2011
December 1st, 2010 - May 2nd, 2011 (postmark)
June 2011
July - September 30th, 2011
October 11th, 2011

Touring exhibition
Vienna
Prague
Ljubljana

October 11th, 2011 - May 31st, 2012
October 11th, 2011 - January 8th, 2012
January 16th - March 18th, 2012
March 26th - May 31st, 2012

SUBMISSION

Submissions are accepted via postal mail or personal delivery. Please stick to the following application procedure:

Send a short registration e-mail including your name, address, country and e-mail-address to abot@mak.at by February 28th, 2011.
Fill in the ONLINE APPLICATION by May 2nd, 2011.
Send your submission (including either your original artwork or your conceptual design plus a copy of the confirmation e-mail you will receive) by May 2nd, 2011 to:

MAK - Austrian Museum of Applied Arts / Contemporary Art
"Artists' Books on Tour"
Stubenring 5
A-1010 Vienna

Christmas Cards

2010-12-04T02:40:00.000-08:00

In progress shot above.

70 handmade Christmas cards now done; I just need to write them....

Stamping business cards

2010-11-20T10:31:00.003-08:00

Ready for tomorrow.

Getting ready for H&B Book Fair tomorrow

2010-11-20T10:31:00.001-08:00

In the studio getting ready for tomorrow. Always so last minute!

Handmade & Bound Artists' Book Fair 2010

2010-11-14T06:03:00.000-08:00

Just a reminder I will be at the Handmade & Bound fair. Here is a preview of some of the things I will be selling:

The 2010 Handmade & Bound fair will take place on Sun 21^st Nov at the St Aloysius Social Club near Euston (map here). It is open between 12 and 6pm. There will also be a cake stall……

St Aloysius Social Club

20 Phoenix Road

Euston

London

NW1

Crumble

2010-10-24T09:12:00.001-07:00

Handmade&Bound

2010-10-13T10:42:00.000-07:00

A group of us got a stall at this year's Handmade&Bound Fair in London. I will be selling my books so come along.
Sunday 21st Nov 2010. 12noon - 6pm. St Aloysius Social Club, London N1 - Nearest tube is Euston.

Rhizomatic at the Departure Gallery

2010-09-26T13:29:00.000-07:00

RHIZOMATIC

1st October – 12th November 2010 by appointment.

Private View Friday 8th October, 6 - 9.30pm (free taxi shuttle from Southall, see below)

Departure Gallery, 5 - 6 Boeing Way, The International Trading Estate, Brent Road, Southall, London UB2 5LF.

Rhizomatic is an experimental, decentralised curatorial system based on the concept of the Rhizome, as explored in Deleuze and Guattari’s philosophical masterpiece A Thousand Plateaus. This is Departure Gallery’s largest and most ambitious show so far and includes work by over two hundred artists exhibiting in 100,000 sq ft of warehouse space.

The exhibition will not constitute the end of the rhizome, because a true rhizome has no beginning or end, but is ongoing and unlimited. Each artist involved will continue to make connections during and after the exhibition through the contacts and ideas that emerge as a result of the show. This opens up the possibility of creating a larger sequel exhibition at some point in the future. Who knows where this will go and what might result?

Getting There: Take national rail from Paddington to Southall (14 minutes) then buses 105, h32, 105 or 482 to Brent Road. On the private view night there will be a free taxi shuttle from Southall Station between 6pm and 9.30pm- turn left out of the station and follow the signs to the shuttle stop.

For more information or to make an appointment please contact

louiseashcroft@departuregallery.com

http://www.departuregallery.com

Setting up an Installation

2010-09-25T06:12:00.001-07:00

Setting up in the Departure Gallery for their new show; Rhizomatic, which opens on 1st Oct- private view on the 8th.

Studio Tuesday

2010-08-24T11:46:00.001-07:00

Wall book.

Studio Monday

2010-08-23T09:10:00.001-07:00

Studio Monday

2010-08-23T07:24:00.001-07:00

At what point do sketchbooks become artists' books?

Studio Monday

2010-08-23T04:11:00.001-07:00

Working on some new book ideas. Combining papers and cloth.

Micro-Pages mentioned in a review of Hackney Wicked festival

2010-08-11T07:50:00.000-07:00

Yesterday my studio-mate made me aware of this little mention in a review of the Hackney Wicked festival. Made my day.

After the Open Studios

2010-08-07T01:26:00.000-07:00

Right so its been a week since the open studios and I am still trying to catch up with sleep! It was so knackering; hundreds, no thousands, of people passed through our doors over the 2 and half days and I had so many productive conversations about my work that I am still trying to get it to all sink in. I took this photo in a rare moment of relative quiet just to show you my space with people in it looking at my artists' books and my textile work on the wall and the textile bundles work in progress in the foreground there. Will post again soon when my brain has managed to catalogue and sort through all the info and ideas I have processed. Thanks to everyone that came along and hope to see you all next year.

Open Studios - 30th July to the 1st August

2010-07-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

So its open studios time again! My studio will be open as part of the Hackney WickED Art Festival this weekend so feel free to come along if you are in London.

I will have a selection of current works and works in progress out on display plus there will be a special chance to see Micro-Pages (the book arts exhibition on microfilm that toured the UK earlier in the year) on my very own microfilm machine!

Opening Times:

from 6pm Friday 30th July

10am - 7pm Saturday 31st July

10am - 7pm Sunday 1st Aug

There is a map here; and you will find me in the Mother Studios block (no. 8 on the downloadable map):

Studio 9.5

Floor 3/D

Mother Studios

Queens Yard

White Post Lane

Hackney Wick

East London

Nearest station is Hackney Wick station on the London Overground line (orange line on the tube map).

I look forward to seeing you there!

Studio - microfilm machine and wall on wheels

2010-07-18T08:46:00.001-07:00

exhibition commentary: 'Knock Turn' at BHVU gallery

2010-07-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

"Knock Turn" A group exhibition

By Russell Terry, Nikolas Arvanitis, Laura Cherry, Tom Hemming, Trevor Simmons,Graham Treadwell and Simeon Ackroyd

BHVU Gallery

http://knockturnshow.blogspot.com

Walking into the space at BHVU gallery during a busy private view in the middle of London's hottest summer for years is like taking a breath of fresh air. The atmosphere is relaxed and people are actually looking at the work instead of grabbing the free beer! There are two artists who really stood out for me; Russell Terry and Laura Cherry. Russell's work has an air of simple elegance, paper skulls sit atop see-through timber plinths; they command a kind of deference despite their light and fragile nature. His pieces are loaded with heavily considered processes and painstaking delicate repetition. Networks of cut paper form the shape of skulls; geometric patterns producing partially opaque heads that evoke for me images of dark paintings where men hold their memento mori. The work exudes time; the passing of time spent in the concentrated study of humanity.

Laura's collages of found images seem somehow seamless despite their disparate juxtapositions. Classical objects are turned into mythical creatures and appear to want to scuttle off the page. The book pages from which these images are taken are still intact and act as the frame for the work as well as giving a sense of narrative to the separate pieces. The images themselves, as photographs of objects in books, should normally only act as reminders, memory joggers and reproductions for contextual study; but with the addition of intersecting cut outs the copy has become an object in itself; it appears as though Benjamin's loss of aura has been rekindled.

exhibition review: 'What Have You Forgotten?' by Joby Williamson at TinType Gallery

2010-06-27T02:13:00.000-07:00

"What Have You Forgotten?" An Installation of a Post-It Archive

By Joby Williamson

TinType Gallery

http://www.tintypegallery.com/

The press release states: "Williamson has been collecting discarded post-it notes on a daily basis for ten years. What began as idle curiosity, picking up a screwed-up scrap of paper from the pavement, has become a commitment to capturing those ephemeral narratives of everyday life."

As I entered the TinType gallery space through the back-door of the KALEID gallery I was immersed in darkness and the sound of many slide projectors whirring and clunking away in an offbeat chorus. As I moved into the centre of the room I could see large scale post-it notes projected on every wall; changing every few seconds; a dance of yellow squares on darkened walls. Trying to keep up with every change involved almost constant spinning around on my heels so that was soon abandoned and I settled for watching two at a time. To-Do lists, notes to self, thank yous, sorrys, goodbyes, phone numbers and unintelligible scrawls; they are all there throughout the post-it archive. Mainly that traditional yellow but occasional oranges, pinks and greens; some have clearly been dropped on the floor or stuffed into pockets, corners turned up to expose the dirt collected by the gummy strip. This collection of ephemeral notes are strangely compelling to read.

I love the way Williamson has used the slide projector as a way of displaying a selection of his archive, I feel that it works extremely well as a form of display, especially as this is an exhibition of a collection. I find this exhibition exciting but also perhaps lacking a certain tactile quality I yearn for as a fellow collector of ephemeral material. I was glad to see that there was a catalogue available with a some essays and a selection of images of the post-its arranged pleasingly on a few pages, but I would have liked to have seen more of the archive itself; for a show about post-it notes there wasn't an actual post-it to be seen. Perhaps this was the artist's intention; to convert the ephemeral quality of the paper note into an archived transparency which could last for up to 200 years, but for an artist who captures narratives I would have liked to have seen the sequential history of this post-it note archive.

Joby Williamson studied Fine Art Printmaking at Manchester and the Royal College of Art.

You can catch this intriguing show at TinType Gallery until 17th July 2010.

TinType Gallery

23-25 Redchurch Street

London

rocks and lichen - natural inspiration from the highlands

2010-05-29T05:40:00.001-07:00

Erosion Bundle Unwrapped

2010-05-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

So here is my erosion bundle; its been outside in the garden since January.

See more bundles and more about the project here:

http://erosionbundles.blogspot.com/

Thank you!

2010-05-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

Look what came in the post today!!!!! Its a print from the very talented Amanda Watson Will which I won after her 200th blog post celebrations. Thank you Amanda its great - now I just need a frame.........

2010-04-11T10:48:00.001-07:00

2010-04-11T10:46:00.001-07:00

Collage in the studio

2010-04-11T05:45:00.001-07:00

Excerpt from 'A Manifesto for the Book'

2010-04-04T08:37:00.001-07:00

From page 31. An interview with Ulrike Soltz. Download the whole manifesto from http://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/canon.htm

Article in latest Bonefolder issue

2010-04-02T09:09:00.001-07:00

This is an article in the latest Bonefolder Vol.6, No.1 Fall 2009. Im still reading it, is so exciting, its so close to my thinking with the Micro-Pages project! Brilliant.

In the Studio on a Monday

2010-03-29T06:14:00.001-07:00

Erosion Bundle - March

2010-03-14T07:56:00.001-07:00

Urban Erosion Bundle

March 2010

Micro-Pages on the microfilm reader at Canterbury

2010-02-16T09:28:00.001-08:00

Here is an image of micro-pages on display at Canterbury UCA Library. The library staff hav surrounded it with a wonderful display of works from their Artists' book collection.

Micro-Pages Talk at Canterbury

2010-02-16T07:28:00.001-08:00

Trip to Glasgow

2010-02-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

So for the last few days I have been up to Glasgow and back. A very long train journey...

...a speedy tour of GSA (Glasgow School of Art), a 30 min talk on Micro-Pages in the GSA Archives...

...a nice-and-slow-take-it-easy afternoon tea in the Willow Tea Rooms...

and another very long train journey back!

Dinu Bodiciu - Bookbinder

2010-01-31T06:30:00.000-08:00

I discovered a fantastic bookbinder while at an art fair in Hackney Wick yesterday in a place called Stour Space. His work is so full of life. This book above is one of my favourites, but check out his other work on his blog:

http://idinu.wordpress.com/category/bookbinding/

Micro-Pages Talk 3rd Feb 2010 - Glasgow

2010-01-24T11:59:00.000-08:00

12.00-13.00 3rd February 2010

The Glasgow School of Art's Archives and Collections Centre is hosting two 20 minute lunchtime talks on the subject of Artists Books in conjunction with Micropages a touring book arts exhibition on show in the Archives and Collections Centre from 1st - 5th February 2010.

Talk 1 (12.00): Abigail Thomas curator of Micropages will give an introduction to the exhibition. Micro-Pages will start a conversation about the issues surrounding the display of artists’ books. A series of selected artists' books has been turned into a reel of microfilm for this touring exhibition. The work will be accessed through microfilm readers in participating libraries and archive centres. The books selected relate to the history of artists’ books, archives and libraries, or challenge the preconceptions of the future of preservation and display. This short talk will explore the themes presented by the Micropages exhibition, which will be available for visitors to look at before / after the talks.

Talk 2 (12.30): Duncan Chappell, Academic Liaison Librarian at GSA will talk about the extensive collection of artists books held at the School. The Glasgow School of Art Library has a superb and comprehensive collection of artists' books, amassed over many years. Housed in the Mackintosh Library, the collection can be consulted during its normal opening hours and features over 2,000 items. Items in the collection come in all kinds of forms: from edible books to calendars, and from multiples to musical books that play a tune. We even have books in the form of moebius strips, or books made from human DNA embedded and fired in porcelain. We continue to actively build the collection today. This short talk by Librarian Duncan Chappell will introduce a wide range of examples, with an opportunity to learn more about the Library’s collection. There will also be an opportunity to browse through the books on display.

Spaces are limited so please contact Susannah Waters (GSA Archivist) at s.waters@gsa.ac.uk if you are interested in attending.

Mono Print + Paint Drips + Drawing Lines

2010-01-24T11:37:00.000-08:00

Work in progress. Images from an afternoon in the studio.

Additional dates for Micro-Pages

2010-01-23T09:21:00.001-08:00

Artists' Books Q&A's

2010-01-16T15:51:00.000-08:00

Recently an undergraduate student from my old uni contacted me to ask me some questions regarding artists' books and my work and thoughts on the subject. I found this a great opportunity to force myself to think about important aspects of my art book practice and thought I should share the Q&A's here.

How did you become involved with Artist's Books?

I first heard about artists’ books at University when I attended a workshop at KIAD (now UCA in Canterbury) where we were introduced to different methods of creating multiples. I had also begun using my studio sketchbooks as part of my work, rather than simply supporting material. I suppose I had started making artists’ books as a student without really realizing that’s what they were. Some were simply project sketchbooks, some were documentation of a particular piece of work, or series of works like my installations. These installations only existed for a certain time period, but using documentation like photos, sketches, notes etc… and compiling a book out of them was a way of preserving or archiving the piece for the future, a way to extend the reach of the original installation. When I had heard about artists’ books I found out through Lucy that the KIAD library had a special collection of them so I went and routed through them as if they were someone’s precious hoard and realized that a whole new medium had been opened up to me! Going back to the multiples workshop, this is when I first started using a photocopier to create artists’ books. I have carried this on into my current practice and also carried elements of the archival documentation books through to now.

What is your personal definition for an Artist Book?

I try to not use definitions because art can be so hard to pin down in words, but I suppose artists’ books are books that have transcended the bounds of a traditional book. Books made by an artist as a piece of art in its own right, be it a multiple publication or a one off piece. Artworks that don’t conform to the traditional codex form of a book can still be artists’ books however. As long as these pieces take into consideration the form and content of a traditional book and use important elements of these. For instance a narrative element in a website could make that an e-book, or the book nature of a lot of Ed Ruscha’s paintings.

Not sure is this helps but there is a big discussion online here: http://artistbooks.ning.com/group/21stcenturybook
to find out the canon for the 21st C. artist book. Lots of different ideas. My comment I made on there a while back is: “I call (most of) my art 'bookworks' rather than 'artists' books' because I tend to make 'one-offs' or small editions and the word seems to fit better with sculptural artists' books and other kind of one-offs. It also seems like a better word to encompass artists' e-books. Publication is a word I would never use to describe my work, and I would not consider using it for fear of someone not understanding (even more than now!) what I make.”

Micro-pages explores an exciting new way of exhibiting Artist's Books. Where do you see the future of an Artist Book with the advances in technology and the computer generation?

I see this as a very exciting time for the genre. Developments in technology are of course a big driving force as they have been to artists throughout history. The potential for using new technologies to not only create but display artists’ books is huge. Take for instance the British Library’s ‘Turning the Pages’ project; this has opened up fantastic display opportunities for exhibitions. This particular technology does still have it’s disadvantages when it comes to display of artists’ books but it is a brilliant alternative to allow viewers to see the whole of a book rather than just a limited few pages or even just the cover as you would if the book was in a glass case. Having observed the reactions of viewers of several book art exhibitions, (notably ‘Blood on Paper’ at the V&A) as well as the interaction of the public with book displays and original archive material in my current library job, I have been struck by the frustrations and limitations of book display; current trends in technology are opening up so many possibilities that might be helpful in this field. Mobile phone technology is another big one, and some artists have begun making SMS or MMS artists’ books and using i-phones apps as either ways to display or create work. Social networking is also something that artists are beginning to use, I for instance have started a Twitter based e-artist book recently: http://twitter.com/everyweekness

Artist's are constantly reworking the idea of the book and creating interesting new works. How far can an Artist go with deconstructing the form of the book and it remaining an Artist Book?

As I mentioned in your previous question about my definition of an artist book, as long as some element of the concept of the traditional book remain then it is a book.

How do you feel about sites such as printedmatter, which now allows anyone to make a book?

I think that as long as the artist has consciously decided that they want to use this method, that they are happy with the lack on control they have over the final piece and that the structure of the book(s) being made are in tune with the concept of the piece then it’s a perfectly legitimate method of production. It is particularly useful for students and artists to produce professional looking books on a budget, and to sell them on demand to the general public. But I do not think that any book created in this manner can be an artists’ book, some methods of production are not of a high standard and the book itself may not last as long as if it was produced by a publishing house or even handmade and hand-bound by the artist themselves.

London Art Fair 2010, Business Design Centre, Angel, London

2010-01-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

Loved these two pieces (above) by artist Will Maclean. Sorry about blurry pics, I was trying to take them discreatly incase I was told off.

This piece was by Simon Morley. He had taken several pages of books and painted blocks of colour over the text. Quite liked the aesthetic of that.

And this piece was probably the best thing I saw today. Envelopes (security envelopes with those pretty patterns) folded to create a picture. Unfortunatley I didnt pick up the artist's name, if this piece is yours or you know whos it is please let me know and I can add the name to credit the piece!

http://www.londonartfair.co.uk/

Studio work in progress

2010-01-16T10:33:00.001-08:00

Studio work in progress

2010-01-16T10:32:00.001-08:00

More white triangles. More lines.

Afternoon Tea

2010-01-09T06:44:00.001-08:00

After an extremely cold walk on the icey streets of london I come home to a nice pot of tea and some buttery crumpets. Wonderful. Now mayb some work will get done...

Erosion Bundle Project

2010-01-05T05:58:00.001-08:00

Erosion Bundle open before being buried. Includes: tea bag, orange peel, ribbon, various found papers, tissue paper and vilene fabric.

The Erosion Bundle Project is explained here: http://erosionbundles.blogspot.com/

Dates: January 1, 2010 - place bundle in nature

In between = share thoughts and photos

April 15, 2010 - retrieve bundle from nature

August 1, 2010 - finish art piece using your eroded stuff and rejoice

I have begun a little late, and due to snow and ice I have yet to bury my bundle. Soon, soon.

Sketchbook2010

2010-01-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

Received a set of three little sketchbooks for Christmas. Hope to fill them all in 2010 and blog each page as I go. Here is the first page.

New Year, New Work

2010-01-01T05:43:00.001-08:00

Just something im working on on this beautifully sunny new years day. Handmade felt, scrim, machine sewing and part of a painting...

In the studio again

2009-12-19T08:59:00.001-08:00

Cant stay long its prob too cold.

Micro-Pages Sketch take two!

2009-12-11T06:07:00.000-08:00

And here she is at it again, take two:

http://www.doc.gold.ac.uk/~ma501ed/PlasmaFilm/index.html

Its making me want to download and learn how to use 'processing', as if I had time to learn another thing!

Inspired by Micro-Pages

2009-12-10T02:29:00.000-08:00

Eleanor Dare has made this 'sketch' after being inspired by seeing Micro-Pages at Goldsmiths this week:

http://www.dareinteractive.com/micro_film_applet/index.html

Talk at Goldsmiths

2009-12-02T23:19:00.001-08:00

Micro-Pages at LSBU

2009-11-27T02:23:00.001-08:00

This leg of the tour is now over but here is an image of the microfilm machine in situ in the media gallery of london southbank uni. In the background are images of the books projected on the walls. Micro-Pages is still on at Goldsmiths by appointment. Please visit the website for details.