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Posts Tagged ‘artist book’

  1. Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard

    May 6, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    In 2007, Susan Collard built Camera Obscura, a wooden box fitted with all the components that allows one to view the world around them in a more intimate manner. Once the camera is placed in a sturdy position, the viewer may sit at the viewing window with their head and shoulders covered by the cloth hood. As the image is projected into the viewing window adjustments can be made to focus the lens. Susan recommends positioning the camera towards a scene that is well lit as the experience will be more magical.

    In addition to its more traditional parts, Susan has included a bookshelf to hold three coptic bound books – he, they and the eye. Each book can be viewed and read inside the chamber with the aid of light from outside the camera. Each book has a set of strings, much like a marionette, that allow the viewer to turn the page without reaching into the chamber. The copper string ends vary in length, which allow the viewer to distinguish them by touch. 

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    In this last image, we get a glimpse at the interior pages of one of the three coptic books in addition to the detailed set of instructions that come with the piece.

  2. May // Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard

    May 2, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    interlinear-susancollard

    In 2011, Susan Collard crafted Interlinear, a wooden accordion-like structure collaged with various imagery and texts. I’m particularly attracted to the inclusion of delicate embroidery threads; connecting the illustrations in a playful manner and drawing the viewer’s eye from page to page through doorways and into secret compartments. 

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    During my first year at North Bennet Street School, the students were invited to aid in the set-up of the Marking Time Exhibition at Dartmouth College. It was here that I first saw and played with Susan’s work. As we gathered around her work, we dropped one of the steel balls to investigate the hidden channels and pathways between each page. 

    Read the interview after the jump. Come back each Monday during the month of May for more posts about Susan’s work, which include in progress photos for A Short Course in Recollection and more detailed images of Camera Obscura. 

    read more >

  3. Bonus // Book Artist of the Month: Laura Davidson

    April 29, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    One of my favorite books from Laura Davidson is Lucky Girl. This unique accordion book bound with handmade hinges is inspired by Laura’s daughter, who can spot a four-leaf clover anywhere. Clovers from Michela’s collection have been delicately sandwiched between glass in each wooden page, which is also collaged with the typed text “lucky girl”.

    Since 2010, the vibrant green clovers have dried out and aged to a yellow-brown. During my visit, Laura brought out a book from her library. Tucked inside was a surprising collection of four-leaf clovers, each marked with the location where they were plucked.

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  4. Book Artist of the Month: Laura Davidson

    April 29, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    In 2012, Laura Davidson spent some time drawing her drawing tools. Ebony Pencils is a set of six silverpoint portraits cataloging the remaining pencils from Laura’s youth. These pencils were given to her by her father, who worked as a detailer at Studebaker’s and then the Ford Motor Company. This unique book is housed in a walnut box crafted by Laura’s father. 

    During my visit to her studio, Laura directed me towards her magnetic wall where additional drawings hung. Since Ebony Pencils, Laura has expanded to include more tools for her collection, capturing the detail of each tool. I hope these drawings will soon manifest into another delicately crafted book. 

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  5. Book Artist of the Month: Laura Davidson

    April 22, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    Not only does Laura Davidson find inspiration in her travels and her neighborhood, but also in the tools scattered throughout her studio. Every Nib is catalog of nibs and pens used in Laura’s work; housed in a clamshell box that opens to reveal a book and seven handmade pen nibs sculpted from painted paper. Every Nib was created in an edition of 18, signed and numbered, in 2012.

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    The book is bound as an accordion, delicately held together with wire and linen. Five pages of the book are block printed with unique images of five different pen nibs with descriptions written in ink. At the bottom of each page is a hand drawn pen in silverpoint. The sixth page includes an artist’s statement from Laura written in a Sheaffer’s fountain pen. A portrait of the 1940s pen is drawn in silverpoint. In the small compartment, each nib replica appears fragile, but are quite sturdy and highly detailed. Laura showed me some of the real nibs, tucked away neatly in little tins or the original Italian packaging. 

    The grey clamshell box was crafted by Marie Oedel. The box includes labels and tray linings hand drawn with pen and ink wash. The box and all its contents are protected inside a fold-over portfolio with an original linocut of a pen nib on the spine. 

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  6. Book Artist of the Month: Laura Davidson

    April 8, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    In 2009, Laura Davidson took inspiration from the cities that she visited and created 9 Cities, One Artist in a small edition of 7. Each hand colored dry point print depicts a monument from each respective city and includes a handwritten caption naming the buildings. The beautiful, muted color palette is a lovely contrast against the vibrant 22 c. gold details. There are 10 prints in total.

    The book is on a smaller, more intimate scale measuring 2″ high by 4½” long. 

    A few words from Laura regarding her work:
    I love to travel and have been so inspired by it. I think it is good to get out of the studio and look at what is out there and what can inspire.

    9cities-lauradavidson 9citieslondon-lauradavidson 9citiesparis-lauradavidson 9citiesrome-lauradavidson

  7. Book Artist of the Month: Sarah McDermott

    March 4, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    Sarah McDermott works in collaboration with friends Joanna Ruocco and Brian Conn to design and screenprint covers for their experimental fiction journal Birkensnake. Each issue is “irregularly published and imperfectly bound” in editions of about 300. 

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    left: Issue no. 2 | right: Issue no. 3

    Birkensnake 2 has a 3-color screenprint design on flocked paper with the center scorched with a blowtorch and bound in a long stitch structure. Birkensnake 3 has a 3-color design screenprinted on recycled chipboard boxes and bound with a wraparound cover. 

    Unfortunately, all of the print issues are sold out, but Birkensnake can be read digitally through their website. The next issue is set to publish this summer, edited by seven pairs of strangers, that is until they signed on to complete Birkensnake 6.

  8. March // Book Artist of the Month: Sarah McDermott

    March 2, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

    problemsofscale1-sarahmcdermottIn 2011, Sarah McDermott of Kidney Press created Problems of Scale; an artist book exploring the syntax of a short prose poem by Joanna Ruocco. Sarah laid out all of the phrases and examined the relationships between each phrase and then used that as the framework for the book layout. An overarching relationship between two people is represented on the vellum overlays, which are tipped in to a modified hardcover long-stitch binding. The text was letterpress printed with metal type on a combination of Hahnemuhle Bugra, Chartham vellum and handmade abaca paper. In addition polymer plates for letterpress printing were made by hand with Rubylith cutouts and scratched negatives. The book is housed in a slipcase.

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    On a visit to the New York Center for Book Arts, I saw Sarah’s work for the first time. I thought Problems of Scale was beautifully crafted as both an art object and a book structure. I’m really excited about this interview, her determination for making art and outlook on teaching are quite inspiring. Check back each Monday for posts featuring more artist books, as well as Sarah’s print work. 

    You received your MFA in Book Arts at the University of Alabama in 2010. Can you talk about your training in the book arts at UA and how you decided to get into book arts and printmaking?
    I’ve taken a somewhat indirect path toward this field. I have always liked making things, but I didn’t take art in middle/high school because I clashed with the art teacher’s conservative approach. In my twenties I started to get more into my own drawing practice and learned how to screenprint, inspired by the amazing art happening in Providence, RI where I was living. At the time I was working doing light construction/carpentry with two contractor friends. I then moved to Uruguay for a year and ended up hanging out at several vibrant collective printshops. I got inspired to learn printing and when I came back to the U.S. and moved to N.Y.C. I started to do work-study at the Center for Book Arts. All of the letterpress classes were full so I took bookbinding classes and really liked them, finding it kind of like carpentry but on a more appropriate scale for my body (smallish). After a year and a half I decided to go to the University of Alabama for further study. I chose Alabama because it had the strongest craft orientation of the M.F.A. programs and at the time I thought I was more interested in trade school than art school. Alabama also had the best funding; I knew I was looking at years of underpaid labor when I finished school (which has proved true) so I wanted to avoid debt if possible. At Alabama I just worked all the time, and ended up building my artistic confidence in addition to developing solid craft skills. Book arts still seemed somewhat random to me at the time, I’m not one of those people that has made zines since I was a child, but I kept being drawn to it, and more and more these days it seems like this field encompasses pretty much everything I am interested in. 

    Since graduation you have participated in residencies at the New York Center for Book Arts and at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. How have these experiences influenced your current work and shaped your involvement in book arts?
    It felt essential to me to set up a structure for myself to continue working immediately out of graduate school. I felt happy with my work in my last year at Alabama and wanted to continue the momentum. I also thought that if I didn’t reinforce the skills that I had learned that I might forget them. I was therefore lucky to get the scholarship at the Center for Book Arts, because it provided the perfect place to do that. I systematically went through and re-did several things that I had learned in grad school, in an attempt to make them more of my own, instead of having to follow instructions or handouts. I also set up projects for myself that required recombining skills, and forcing myself to think creatively instead of, again, just following directions. As I did this I could bounce ideas off the community of binders and printers at the CBA. I also took a lot of classes, which were sometimes a review, but good for learning from different people and remembering certain things. So overall it was great.

    At Pyramid, I enjoyed being able to make paper and do printmaking simultaneously, which isn’t a combination that is easy to find. I was interested in the balance that Pyramid negotiates between being a community center and being an arts residency program. I also really enjoyed the personalities and the camaraderie at Pyramid which led me toward moving to the DC area. 

    When describing your work you’ve mentioned the use of raw materials: “fiber becomes paper, receives print, becomes book.” Once a concept has hatched, what is your process in transferring that idea into the book form? Is your workspace in a shared studio?
    Well, it’s been somewhat different for every book and I feel like it’s shifting with the project I am currently working on. My general process has often tended to be: get in over my head, and then catch up and learn what I need to in order to make the project happen. While some of this impulse is natural and exciting and good, I also think it comes from the pressure of being relatively new in the field and feeling like there is so much to learn. I am getting to a place where I feel like I can work less from this position of scarcity/catch-up, and instead from a stronger, more rooted impulse, where I am more comfortable in my role as an artist and craftsperson. This is a lifetime task, probably.

    I also use collaboration as a framework for projects. I frequently work with a writer, Joanna Ruocco, and with a magazine Birkensnake (edited by the same Joanna and Brian Conn). Being accountable to other people is incredibly helpful for getting things done. 

    Generally I have used the paper-making process as kind of a conceptual warm up. After coming up with some general ideas, I continue thinking about content while I am making the materials for the book, so the two grow side by side.

    I used InDesign for Compendium of Domestic Incidents, mostly so I would learn InDesign. I became worried though by how quickly it started to feel necessary (how easily I forgot how to organize material without computers) and I started to think about how expensive InDesign was and how I couldn’t find a good freeware option, so I decided to do my next project (Problems of Scale) without the use of the computer. 

    The book project I’m working on now, I want to have a bit more of a commercial/industrial feel so I am mostly using machine-made paper and am planning on going back to the computer some, especially now that I have access via the school where I teach. 

    I have no workspace of my own at the moment. It can be difficult to share equipment and create dedicated work time amidst socializing, but it’s also inspiring to be around other people making things. I rotate between working at Pyramid Atlantic and in the Corcoran letterpress and printmaking studios.  

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    You work under the moniker Kidney Press. Is there a story behind the name?
    The Kidney Press moniker is pretty random. I have always admired the kidney, since reading about its functioning in AP Biology in high school. Since my work deals a lot with body stuff, fetishizing an organ seemed appropriate. I also liked that “kidney press” sounded kind of like a torture device, rather than some of the statelier press names I encounter. 

    You teach workshops in both the book arts and printmaking at various venues including the Corcoran College of Art and Design and the New York Center for Book Arts. What types of workshops do you teach and who are your typical students? What aspects of teaching do you enjoy the most?
    At CBA and at Pyramid Atlantic I’m teaching a class on alternative ways of making polymer plates in the coming months. I have also taught bookbinding at the CBA. At Pyramid in early summer I am teaching a class I am really excited about called The Intermediate Object combining screenprint with simple book structures. All of these workshops are for adults who run the gamut in terms of their motivation for taking the class- some are serious students of book arts who are looking to go further, some are folks who want to try something new. At the Corcoran, last semester I facilitated a large collaborative project with the second year Masters’ students in the Art and the Book program, which was challenging and fun. I also teach youth workshops via Pyramid Atlantic which engages different skills. I haven’t really specialized, which means I teach many different things and sometimes my brain feels like it is going to explode with all the prep work I have to do. But I also like it, because I like variety and I get to learn new things and push myself that way. At the moment I need to figure out how to make more time for my own work (which seems like a common teaching artist conundrum), but in general I love teaching- it keeps me ethically engaged and makes my own work better. 

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  9. Book Artist of the Month: Dianna Frid

    February 25, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    In 1572, astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe observed an incredibly bright star within the Cassiopeia constellation. A few months later the star disappears and Brahe publishes a small book in 1573, coining the phrase nova for a new star. We now understand this term as a supernova or the death of star. In 2009, Dianna Frid created this artist book Stardeath out of canvas and silk. The geometric layout of each page is embroidered with floss, additional details are added with aluminum foil and cellophane.

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  10. Book Artist of the Month: Dianna Frid

    February 4, 2013 by Erin Fletcher

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    The artist book Just Wait and See was my first exposure to Dianna Frid’s work, which is housed in the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. The book is constructed with cloth and thread with images applied through heat transfer. The book was always a favorite of mine to view each time I visited the JFABC. Although I anticipated the outcome of the gun shooter, it never halted my interaction with the book.

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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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