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December, 2013

  1. Swell Things No. 11

    December 31, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    1. Purely a fashion find: Three Floor, offers up some unique and interesting garments with unusual structural elements. 
    2. The Bristol Central Library just celebrated its 400th anniversary and as a tribute to its history installed a massive living sculpture cleverly referred to as Book Hive. Robotics collective, Rusty Squid, designed this interactive installation to respond to the movements of the library’s visitors. Each book, 400 in total, open and close in a range of breathtaking patterns, creating a satisfying creak that one expects to hear when opening an old book. Check out the video here.
    3. Temari balls originated as Chinese folk art and were introduced to Japan in the 7th century. These balls were hand embroidered with the thread from old kimonos, then given as a gift from an elder to children on New Year’s day.  
    4. When I clicked on the Fruit & Vegetable series from Heidi Voet I was quite surprised and immature giggling quickly ensued. But in all seriousness, Heidi used images from Chinese magazines and completed the naked female bodies with various perishables to highlight both our consumption and their perservability.
    5. Exhibition a is one of two sites I discovered recently that offers original art and prints at reasonably affordable prices.  The image featured is a print titled Persian Princess Mourning Her Peacock from artist Tony Cox.

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    6. Philippe Parreno recently premiered his work Atlas of Clouds, an animated neon book. This piece is visually stunning and I think Parreno artistically captures the movement of a book in a stationary object. View the other pages at 1301PE Gallery.
    7. Gorgeous paper sculptures from artist Richard Deacon. Each piece is crafted from sheets of hand marbled paper. The patterns and colors are quite unusual from a bookbinder’s point of view, but absolutely striking. 
    8. The Art of Clean Up: Made Neat and Tidy is a playful book from Swiss artist and comedian Ursus Wehrli. His crusade to organize the chaos of the world seems quite daunting even when the objects seem so simple from a bowl of alphabet soup to a pine branch.
    9. 72 Editions is the other affordable website I discovered recently to offer original art and prints; from the web to the wall (as their slogan goes). The image featured is Glacier d’Argentiere I from artist David Denny.
    10. Haute Papier SS 2014 is the latest collection from designer Bea Szenfeld. Showcased at Stockholm Fashion Week, the models walked the catwalk with beautifully crafted ‘garments’ created from 3-dimensional paper sculptures. 

     


  2. Bonus // Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer

    December 29, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    OverTheEdge-KarenHanmerIt was so hard to narrow down just 5 pieces from Karen Hanmer’s portfolio to feature during the month of December. So I present this bonus post, which includes 2 additional bindings, to wrap up both Karen’s feature and the interview segment for 2013.

    Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon (by Thomas M. Myers and Michael P. Ghiglieri) may be the reason why I first began to admire Karen Hanmer’s work and how I fell in love with the lacunose technique. This French-style fine binding is covered in full goatskin and features two large goatskin lacunose onlays. The tumbling figures are tooled in gold using custom brass tools, both on the covers, spine and edge-to-edge doublures, which have left a mirrored impression on the suede flyleaves (which you can see here). 

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    After visiting with Karen in her home bindery, I attended the One Book, Many Interpretations exhibit at the Chicago Public Library in 2011. I had just been treated to handling some of Karen’s earlier works, that I was so awed by her recent fine binding of The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe. Karen employs so many techniques on this binding, but every part is flawlessly executed into a harmonious composition.

    Bound as a French-style fine binding in full goatskin with back-pared and cushioned onlays; some laser-printed. Sprinkled gold leaf creates a cosmic stream across the boards. The edges are decorated with graphite and sprinkled with gold leaf.

    These two bindings are amongst my favorites within your portfolio. The techniques you employed made for quite striking designs. Can you discuss the lacunose technique and using laser-printed onlays?
    I don’t draw, paint, airbrush, or do any kind of traditional printmaking, so to get imagery into my designs, I use the computer, or in the case of lacunose, brute force.

    OverTheEdgedetail-KarenHanmer

    I saw Paul Delrue present the lacunose technique at the Guild of Book Workers meeting in 2005. Thin bits of leather are adhered to a substrate or directly to the book, sanded, a PVA wash is applied and dried, and the leather is sanded again. More bits of leather can be applied, tooling can add additional texture, and color can be added to the wash to alter the tone. This process is repeated numerous times with finer and finer sandpaper, then finished with beeswax on a cloth.

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    Laser-printing on leather is a technique I learned from Peter Verheyen. Pare leather to onlay thickness, paste it to tissue, dry flat. Print the desired image first onto paper so you can properly position the leather. Place the leather over the image just printed on the paper, and tape down the leading edge. Make a second laser print, this time on the leather. After the print is cool, fix the image with a protective coating. I use Cellugel. Krylon spray will also work, and SC6000 or Renaissance wax will probably work also, but be careful not to rub the toner off the surface as you rub on the protective coating. Then remove the leather from the copier paper and proceed to use the printed leather as an onlay or inlay.

    – – – – – – – – – –

    I want to thank Karen again for such a wonderful and thoughtful interview!


  3. Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer

    December 29, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    LaCouleurDuVent-KarenHanmerLa Couleur du Vent is an exhibition featuring 50 bindings interpreting text of the same title. I previously posted about this exhibition in Sonya Sheat’s interview this past June. ARA-Canada in partnership with the École Estienne in Paris, organized an international exhibition of bookbinding to be held in both Paris and Canada during 2013 and 2014. I found Karen Hanmer’s design for the text to be quite striking and unusual from her other fine bindings. The overall design is simplistic, but the arrangement of fine, short lines creates a beautiful texture against the grain of the vibrant yellow leather. 

    Bound in full goatskin as a traditional French-style fine binding, Karen’s copy of La Couleur du Vent was sewn on flattened cords and the boards are laced-on. The red teardrop is a back-pared onlay, while the other teardrops are tooled using black, gold and red foils. The title is hand tooled using the same colored foils. 

    How did you come to participate in this exhibition? Are you a member of ARA Canada?
    Yes, I am a member of ARA Canada, and this is the third time I have exhibited with them. Their exhibitions travel in Canada and sometimes in France, and they still produce printed catalogs.

    Prior to a family vacation I posted on the Book_Arts-l asking for suggestions of things to see in Montreal. Cécile Côté invited us to visit her studio, and I was able to see the text block for this set book exhibit, which was designed, illustrated and printed by an intern under Cécile’s direction. [From the ARA-Canada website: This is a collection of poems by Gilles Vigneault, illustrated and designed by Nastassja Imiolek under the artistic direction of Cécile Côté.] I unable to find a translation of the text, so my design is based on the illustrations, borrowing often-used colors and the repeated teardrop shape and cross-hatching.


  4. Best of 2013

    December 27, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    The year of 2013 has been surprisingly busy, both in my business and my personal life. Over the course of the year I established my own business, bound my first leather embroidered binding, became an Aunt for the second time, started an impressive board game collection, interviewed with Susan Mills for Bookbinding Now and moved into a spacious new apartment with my husband, Jason.

    I’ve also been busy posting on my blog and creating more bookbinding-related content. This year I started an interview series that I will continuing into the new year. Thanks again to all of those who agreed to be interviewed for my blog. The content from the interviews has really allowed my blog to blossom. Below is a small collection of some of my favorite posts from the year. Enjoy!

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    1. Artist: Matias Santa Mari
    2. Moving Images: Whale Fall
    3. February // Bookbinder of the Month: Hannah Brown
    This was my first interview. Thanks to Hannah for being my guinea pig. Her work continues to inspire me and I am always looking forward to her next binding.

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    4. June // Bookbinder of the Month: Sonya Sheats
    Sonya’s interview was so inspiring from her unique training in French fine binding to her use of nontraditional binding materials. I’m in awe of each binding Sonya creates.
    5. Tutorial: Top Secret Belgian Binding
    My goal for this upcoming year is to offer more tutorials on my blog. The Secret Belgian was my first and a blast to work on.
    6. August // Bookbinder of the Month: Annette Friedrich
    I could not pass up featuring Annette’s bold and distinctive style. I admire her ambitions to bind all of Virginia Woolf’s novels.

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    7. September // Book Artist of the Month: Michelle Ray
    Michelle’s work is so flawlessly executed as she beautifully combines letterpress and book arts with her fascination of the sea and water.
    8. Photographer: Alma Haser
    9. Artist: Christian Maychack

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    10. Artist: Mark Warren Jacques
    11. Daily Glimpse Project
    This 365 project began in 2012 and ended in July of 2013. The image above is the final image sent between my friend, Anna, and I. Over the course of the project, I collaborated with 11 people as we sent images to one another daily. Capturing the same single moment of our days.
    12. December // Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer
    This interview was my most ambition to date. On top of the initial interview, I asked Karen a single question about each piece to be featured throughout the month. This format will carry over into the new year. Karen also had one of the highest viewed interviews, no doubt due to her popularity and thoughtful responses. 

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    13. My Hand: Field Book of Western Wild Flowers
    As I mentioned above, I completed my first leather embroidered binding this year. Inspired by the historical embroidered bindings I attempted by first embroidered binding on cloth and then stumbled upon the work of Hannah Brown. In this 3-part post I write about my process behind such an ambitious fine binding.

    Happy New Year!


  5. Artist: Sarah Schönfeld

    December 26, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    estrogen-sarahschofeld

    This is what happens when you drop concentrated liquid drugs onto exposed film. In the series, All you can feel, German artist Sarah Schönfeld experimented with the effects of certain legal and illegal substances. The images reveal the reaction of each chemical as it breaks down the film substrate. Imagine what it might be doing to your body. The image above is Estrogen.

    Caffeine_MDMA-SarahSchofeld

    Make sure you click on the images to enlarge and check out the amazing details. The results teeter between ethereal imagery to mineral samplings. Above on the left is Caffeine with MDMA on the right. Below are two examples of Ketamine.

    Ketamine-SarahSchofeld

    Heroin_CrystalMeth-SarahSchofeld

    Pictured above on the left is Heroin with Crystal Meth on the right. Below are LSD on the left with a mixture of Speed and Magic on the right.

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  6. Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer

    December 22, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    A painting that hung above the sofa in the childhood home of Karen Hanmer became the inspiration and source material for Fragments of Capri. Taking an object that had become so engrained in the landscape of her surroundings, Karen reproduced the painting full size as several inkjet prints then proceeded to trim the painting down to postcard size pieces.

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    Bound within the pages of this drum leaf structure the viewer is given a disjointed look at the painting. Although each spread creates an appealing and what appears to be finished painting, a sense of belonging quickly creeps into the narrative. Created in 2011, Fragments of Capri, is an unnumbered edition of 100. Each book is unique in the variation to covers and interior pages. The spine piece is vellum stamped with gold foil.

    Horizons… Capri is a similar edition where Karen continues to deconstruct and reformat this familiar painting, further fragmenting our memories of the past.  

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    Bound in the drum leaf structure with a stamped vellum spine piece, Horizons… Capri was also created in 2011 in an unnumbered edition of 30. This artist book is currently on display as part of the Guild of Book Workers traveling exhibition: Horizon

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    I love these two books. The soft edges and pastel colors of the painting are beautifully paired with vellum and a touch of gold foil. Did your initial concept include both books or did one stem from the other?
    Before I began binding, I photographed my husband’s family painting hanging above the sofa it was commissioned to match. Ever since, I’d wanted to make something with my family’s painting. I was invited to make a piece for an exhibit where the works would be assembled by the viewer. I thought of a puzzle or maybe a cube constructed from a photo of the painting. That fell through, but then a friend asked for a set of 50 of something to include in his Fluxus-inspired journal. I photographed the painting, color-corrected the file to match the original, inkjet-printed several copies life-size, then cut them into postcard-size pieces.

    Working with these small prints gave me the idea to use the photograph of the painting for books also. I liked the idea of a fragmented walk through the dreamy landscape, and my first idea was to reference a pocket-sized travel-guide. The Guild of Book Workers had announced the theme “Horizon” for their next traveling exhibit, and I realized if I cut the full-size printed photo of the painting into eight long rectangles, each piece would contain an obvious horizon line. I’d been hoping for a chance to use vellum as a spine for a drum leaf or sewn boards edition, and I think the gold stamped title makes the vellum look particularly luminous.


  7. Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer

    December 15, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    nevermoredeluxeandstandard-karenhanmer

    Nevermore Again: Poe Exhumed is an artist book from Karen Hanmer presented in multiple bound formats. The content of the work mirrors the tales of Edgar Allen Poe to contemporary economic and political stories. Pictured above on the left is the Deluxe edition which is presented as an early 19th century style publisher’s binding covered in marbled paper by Pamela Smith. The endpapers incorporate the design of the wrapper from the Standard edition, which is pictured above on the right.

    Nevermore Again: Poe Exhumed is offered for purchase in several different formats. Why have you chosen to produce this piece in various editions? Have you found one edition to be more successful over another?
    Nevermore, Again is an artists’ book exploring how current events mirror stories written by Edgar Allan Poe. I could not decide between two structures for the binding, so for the first time, I produced a book in several editions.

    The deluxe edition uses the publishers’ boarded binding I learned from Jeff Peachey. It is historically appropriate for Poe’s era, and I was eager to use this interesting cusp-of-the-industrial-revolution structure in an edition. But as I researched Poe’s bibliography, I became fascinated by Tamerlane and Other Poems, the rare first edition of Poe’s first published work. To make my book more conceptually sound, I decided that in typography, size, and structure the standard edition should be a facsimile of Tamerlane, which was presented in a simple paper wrapper. Olivia Primanis at the Harry Ransom Center sent me detailed measurements of their copy of Tamerlane, and I went to the University of Chicago to examine another in person. The only change I made was sewing through the fold instead of stabbing adjacent to the spine. I wanted my book to open well.

    nevermoredeluxe-karenhanmer nevermorestandard-karenhanmer

    I’m very pleased with the text I wrote for Nevermore, and I wanted it to have readership extending beyond those with a collector’s budget, so I made a laser-printed chapbook version also.

    I’ve sold many chapbook versions, all but one to individuals. The deluxe edition at $450 has sold significantly more copies than the standard at $275. This surprises me, especially because of pressures on institutional budgets, but I realize that Pam Smith’s marbled paper on the deluxe is hard to resist.


  8. Artist: Anouk Desloges

    December 13, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    I’m just gushing over this embroidered Knot series from artist Anouk Desloges. Normally, the holes created by the needle are lost in an embroidered textile, but Anouk cleverly uses plexiglass as her canvas which amplify these gaps between the stitches. 

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    detail of My Sunday’s Mask

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    The following two pieces are titled Paper Bag; are sewn through plexiglass and include bronze leaf. They both have a very lovely resemblance to the anatomy of the female reproductive system.  

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  9. Artist: Justin Plakas

    December 11, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    A Better Tomorrow has a quiet yet eerie vibe with the use of high contrast black and white fabrics against grainy and blurry imagery. This fantastic collage series is from artist Justin Plakas, whose a multi-media artist living and working in Las Vegas. New Mexico. 

    honor-justinplakas fieldship-justinplakas nightsky-justinplakas moonlight-justinplakas vacate-justinplakas


  10. Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer

    December 8, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    The flag book structure has become a reoccurring model in Karen Hanmer’s work. She has quite an eye for transforming flat imagery into interesting movable objects. Bluestem was created in 2006 in a small edition of 25, the work is inspired by Willa Cather’s My Antonia and includes a quote printed on the rear panel.

    bluestem-karenhanmerThe grass imagery is inkjet printed on polyester film and bound on either side of the panels creating a double-sided variation on the flag book structure. As you open and close this book a nice rustle is created by the movement of the pages. It’s quite simple and beautiful. 

    Inspired by the work of Hedi Kyle, you have, on several pieces used the flag book structure. How does this structure best represent your concept?
    Women and Cars by Susan King was among the first artists’ books I saw, and it has remained an inspiration. King’s use of the flag book structure gave me a model for everything I wanted to accomplish when making a non-codex book. It pairs multiple narratives with photographs, can be held in the hand and read like a traditional codex, opens fully enough to look commanding and compelling on exhibit, and gives viewers enough to enjoy that they will not focus on the book being printed digitally if that is an issue for them.

    The Bonefolder chose flag books as the theme for our 2008 online Bind-O-Rama exhibit. Although my previously editioned flag books were quite elaborate with multiple texts and imagery on inside and outside of the spine and boards, Bluestem appeals to my minimalist side. There’s almost nothing there: just a few words of text from Willa Cather’s My Antonia on the rear board and lines representing grass printed on clear polyester film and paper, yet the piece also effectively represents the boundlessness of the prairie.

    destinationmoon-karenhanmerCreated in 2003, Destination Moon, is another simple flag book structure that involves a complex layering of material related to the moon. Archival images pertaining to the Apollo Manned Space Program are on the reverse of John F. Kennedy’s “Man on the Moon” speech in addition to the song lyrics for Roy Alfred and Marvin Fisher’s Destination Moon, about a romantic journey to the moon. 

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    But when the book is fully opened, all the viewer sees is an image of the space shuttle on its way toward the moon.

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    Besides the flag book, Karen has played around in a variety of movable and folded structures. In her work Celestial Navigation, the triangular pages can be held in the hand and read like a traditional book or unfolded to reveal star charts. The structure is quite playful and can be folded into fantastic sculpted shapes. 

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    In Pride Prejudice Passion: Tunnel of Love, Karen appropriately uses the tunnel book structure. This works combines text from the classic romance novel by Jane Austen with images cut from covers of the modern romance novel. As the term suggests, the content can be viewed through the length of the structure, similar to peering down a tunnel. 

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  • My name is Erin Fletcher, owner and bookbinder of Herringbone Bindery in Boston. Flash of the Hand is a space where I share my process and inspirations.
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