{"id":5607,"date":"2013-05-13T01:00:08","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T05:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/?p=5607"},"modified":"2025-09-15T16:22:53","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T20:22:53","slug":"book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/13\/book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"shortcourse-susancollard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A Short Course in Recollection<\/em><\/a> was built by Susan Collard<\/a> in 2009 for the Guild of Book Workers<\/a>\u00a0national exhibit Marking Time<\/a>\u00a0and through this book I was introduced to Susan’s work. Although the book may appear fairly plain on the outside, the interior pages are an inch thick in order to house a series of ramps and switchbacks. Susan began with her fascination of children’s toys built of ramps and towers. This literal marking of time in a direct, mechanistic, clattering fashion appealed to Susan (as did the technical challenge of interpreting that into a book).<\/p>\n

\"shortcourse2-susancollard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At the top left of the first page is a vertical slot where the steel marbles are fed into the course. A blue toggle switched to the left stales the first marble upon its decent. The next marble will knock the toggle to the right and both marbles will move forward into the course on different paths. This toggle trick was inspired by woodworker, Matthias Wendel<\/a>, who builds complex and ingenious marble machines. Susan approached the design of Short Course<\/em> just as many artists do, by considering her materials first. In order to reduce any awkward bulkiness to the book, Susan choose steel marbles that are smaller then normal (about 7\/16″). The ramps are made from \u00bd” poplar and the face of the pages are aircraft plywood. The pages are bound together with slotted brass hinges.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Susan drafted full-size diagrams of the pages and made a cardboard model to aid in the building of Short Course<\/em>. This is more planning that usual for Susan and all aesthetic elements came in after the pages started taking shape and the title of the book was chosen.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"shortcourseprocess3-susancollard\"<\/a>\"shortcourseprocess-susancollard\"<\/a> \"shortcourseprocess2-susancollard\"<\/a>\"shortcourse4-susancollard\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The third and fourth pages are more open, where the steel marbles can navigate more reliably. The marbles that fall to the right of the first toggle switch come down a ramp above the sleeping girl’s head, then hit a second toggle switch at her feet.<\/p>\n

The book can only function in one position, with the pages butted together tightly so the marbles can travel freely between them. There are three distinct courses, regulated by two toggle switches. The mechanism of the book does work, but rather temperamentally and can be viewed as a metaphor for memory. Some marbles will travel the course flawlessly, while others get hung up between pages, jump a guardrail or cause a traffic jam. As Susan so elegantly says “it seems easy to extend the metaphor to include these accidents of blockage and retrieval. Perhaps the book, as is, is a better representation of our own flawed memories than if it worked reliably every time. Which is not to say I wouldn\u2019t fix it in a heartbeat if I had the ability.\u00a0Probably my favorite thing about this book was integrating more childish elements (the fairy tales, alphabet blocks, even the colors of the milk paint) with the very intricate mechanisms and depictions of machinery\u2014as if to suggest childhood is a serious and convoluted endeavor, or that understanding the world requires great leaps of nonsense and whimsy.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"shortcourse3-susancollard\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Short Course in Recollection was built by Susan Collard in 2009 for the Guild of Book Workers\u00a0national exhibit Marking Time\u00a0and through this book I was introduced to Susan’s work. Although the book may appear fairly plain on the outside, the interior pages are an inch thick in order to house a series of ramps […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[677,68,681],"tags":[964,680,678,1883,966,190,965,967,950],"class_list":["post-5607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-artist-of-the-month","category-bookbinding","category-feature-artist-book-of-the-week","tag-a-short-course-in-recollection","tag-artist-book","tag-book-art","tag-book-artist-of-the-month","tag-exhibit","tag-guild-of-book-workers","tag-marking-time","tag-matthias-wendel","tag-susan-collard"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2Btis-1sr","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5729,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/27\/book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":0},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2010, Susan Collard created 3x3 a series of board books made from birch aircraft plywood, maple and walnut bound with Tyvek. Each page spread represents a single number ranging from one to nine. For Susan, numbers have definitive personalities that sprout from their mathematical associations. As Susan developed each\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/3x3-susancollard4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/3x3-susancollard4.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/3x3-susancollard4.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5694,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/20\/book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":1},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2010, Susan Collard created her smallest book to date with a wide range of materials including birch aircraft plywood, basswood, slate, various metals, mirrors, linen thread and a shell.\u00a0Small Museum of Nature and Industry is a bit fatter than a perfect cube with dimensions of 2\" x 2\" x\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/smallmuseum3-susancollard.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5532,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/06\/book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":2},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 6, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/cameraobscura4-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/cameraobscura4-susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/cameraobscura4-susancollard.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5502,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/05\/02\/may-book-artist-of-the-month-susan-collard\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":3},"title":"May \/\/ Book Artist of the Month: Susan Collard","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"May 2, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2011, Susan Collard crafted Interlinear, a\u00a0wooden 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.\u00a0 During my first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/susancollard.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/susancollard.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/05\/susancollard.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7187,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2013\/12\/22\/bookbinder-of-the-month-karen-hanmer-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":4},"title":"Bookbinder of the Month: Karen Hanmer","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"December 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"A painting that hung above the sofa in the childhood home of\u00a0Karen Hanmer\u00a0became the inspiration and source material for\u00a0Fragments 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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "binder of the month"","block_context":{"text":"binder of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/binder-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/horizons3-karenhanmer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/horizons3-karenhanmer.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/horizons3-karenhanmer.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/horizons3-karenhanmer.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7436,"url":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/20\/book-artist-of-the-month-mary-uthuppuru-3\/","url_meta":{"origin":5607,"position":5},"title":"Book Artist of the Month: Mary Uthuppuru","author":"Erin Fletcher","date":"January 20, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"In 2012, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers held an juried exhibit of design bindings based on a book of James Whitcomb Riley poetry called Fantasy & Nonsense. The text block was beautifully letterpress printed by Tryst Press and includes wonderful and whimsical wood engravings by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "book artist of the month"","block_context":{"text":"book artist of the month","link":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/category\/book-artist-of-the-month\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CircuitryBox3-MaryUthuppuru.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CircuitryBox3-MaryUthuppuru.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CircuitryBox3-MaryUthuppuru.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/CircuitryBox3-MaryUthuppuru.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5607"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14609,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5607\/revisions\/14609"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.herringbonebindery.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}