Artist's Books Class

Well, the semester is winding down and the final projects were turned in last Thursday. I went to class to turn in my book, but I didn't stay for the critique because my grandson was in Primary Children's Hospital following scoliosis surgery. He was not doing well, and we were spending as much time at the hospital as possible. He did improve enough to go home Saturday evening, but he is still in great pain and not eating because he is miserable with all the medications that make him throw up. Here is grandma and grandpa visiting the poor kid last week.

Anyway, I didn't mind missing the critique on Thursday. My book is what it is, and I don't think I need to defend it. The viewer will like it or not. I would probably have some criticism on the materials and the printing process: zerox copies on manila drawing paper. I like the way the prints look on the creamy yellow paper, so I used it. The concept was another use of an Eadweard Muybridge series of action photos but in a form that allows the sequence to be altered and viewed in non-sequential patterns. I titled the opus: LOCO-MOTION:

Artists Books II

I was able to get into the Artist's Books I and II class at the University of Utah without any difficulty. It seems like there are fewer students enrolled in the class this term. I saw Louise Levergneux, whom I meet last year in the Artist's Books I class. She is a very creative photographer and book artist, and I was looking forward to working with her again. But she decided not to continue with the class this year because there will be too much of a repetition of last year's assignments. Drat! There have been five class meetings now, and I am stressed out again trying to think creatively. I think I am more of a manipulator of other people's ideas than a creative originator of ideas. I like to experiment and adapt existing forms others have developed. Keith Smith said, "... if I didn't say something, who cares how good the technique is?" Maybe that is my creative problem - I don't really have anything to say.

When I arrived at the studio last night, I found Becky Thomas leasurely working on a book.

Becky has been working for the Book Arts department as a teaching assistant for classes and workshops for six years. She is very talented. She is also taking this class as a graduate student.

I really want to explore Keith Smith's different "non-adhesive" binding techniques and patterns, but that is not an "artist" book, just a small part of putting it all together into a unit called a "book."  I bought Keith Smith's five volume set of Non-Adhesive: Binding Books without Paste or Glue last year and his new and expanded Structure of the Visible Book this year.

The class this year will again do a collaborative mail art project. This year we will be in groups and we will each exchange two pieces among the group. Each week we will add our own items or make changes before we pass them on the next week.The last person to have the mailable art will send it to one of the class assistants. Here are my first contributions. they are 8 1/2" by 11" and were stained on both the front and back.

New Beginnings or Old Habits?

2012 will be my banner year as I turn 65 in October. I don't plan on retiring for a few more years, but it is a milestone year none the less. One of those years where you look back on all the years before and see how different things turned out from what you planned or wanted or thought they would. Oh, well, I am sure the next 65 years will follow closer to the blueprint.

Someone remarked that many people look forward to the New Year to get a good start on old habits, so I have not made any of those pesky New Years Resolutions to break this year. I have set a goal to lose 65 pounds by my 65th birthday. That is only one and a half to two pounds a week; actually 1.625 pounds a week if my calculations are accurate. I have been doing Weight Watchers for Men on line for some time. I have not lost any weight, but I have maintained and not gained any more. I joined My Fitness Pal on line at the insistence of my daughter Rebekah, which is an entirely different system. Between the two systems, I may find what bits and pieces will work for me.

The Canyons District insurance department had a health contest over the holidays to encourage employees to maintain or lose weight over the long school break full of parties and fat food. They offered some nice prizes in a drawing for those who are successful. About 500 people, including me, weighed in at the beginning of the contest.  Tuesday and Wednesday were the final weigh in days. I mistook the dates and went on Monday to weigh in. I lost two pounds, yea!, so my name is in the hopper for the drawing; something I would like not to lose. As of Tuesday afternoon, only about a fifth of those who entered have gone in for a final weigh in.

I am going to try to take the Artists' Books II class at the University of Utah this spring semester. I will audit the class as a senior citizen like I did last year in the Artists' Books I class. It only cost 25 dollars a semester for old folks to audit university classes if there is room. I hope I will be able to get into the class. Book arts is growing in popularity and the classes fill up. I was only let into the class last year because I know both teachers and have some background with them. It turned out that about five students dropped the class anyway. That class was tough, and made me work harder and think deeper than I have had to do in a long time to get what little originality and creativity I have to come to the surface. I put my name on the waiting list for this year's class. Last fall I was not able to take the letterpress printing class because it was full, and they could only take a limited number. Even knowing the teacher did not help me then. Registered university students are first served which is only just and right. It worked out better for me anyway not to have the printing class when I wanted it. Maybe next year.

Artists' Books Show at University of Utah: "Booking a Brouhaha"

When the Artists' Books class ended, the final book project from each student and juried books from earlier assignments were arranged in an exhibition titled "Booking a Brouhaha." The show also displays the collection of "books" made by each student for an assemblage project and the collaborative mail art produced during the class. The exhibition will be in the Special Collections Gallery on the 4th floor of the J. Willard Marriott Library on the campus of the University of Utah. The exhibition will run through May during library hours. In June the collection will be transported to Jackson, Wyoming, for exhibition through the summer.

I was able to spend a little time helping to set up the show, and had the opportunity to arrange the display of my two books that are in the show. Here they are in the display cases.

Eighty Million Dead

RAMdom Memory

Here are some pictures of setting up the books for the displays and some of the finished display cases. There is a wonderful variety of work produced by the members of this Artists' Books class. A few of the students were art majors, but most of the members came from various back grounds. Most were young (20s) university students, but there were a few old timers in the mix. I was one of the oldest, if not the oldest participant. I had to really stretch my creative muscles this semester.



Mary Toscano, Exhibitions and Book Arts Coordinator, arranging a display for the case.



Mary by the display case we just finished.

 This is the book arts studio where Chris McAfee and Marnie Powers-Torrey, the Artists' Books instructors and talented, accomplished artists in their own right, and for   whom I have great admiration, are feverishly working to finish grading. On the tables in the studio are some of the books being arranged for the display cases. I can only remember a few of the artists' names, but those I do remember I will label.



This is Patti Pitts' work. She is a textile artist, who makes beautiful dyed silks. This is a bracelet of small silk bound books.



The following photos are the cases in the exhibit area which were finished before and while I was there to help.

The two photos above show the contents of the assemblage to which each student contributed one "book" item. Each student in the class made an edition of 35 so that all class members have one piece of the other student's work. The book I contributed is the cream-colored book lying in the middle. My favorite in this assemblage is Louise Levergneux's City Shields, photos of manhole covers, which is seen in the top photo, lower right corner. Her work is in several museum and university collections. I felt privileged to work with her in this class.

This book is striking when held and seen up close. It commemorates the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in April 2011. The book behind it and shown in the next two pictures is by Joe Carter, a fine artist with paintings in several local galleries. His realistic paintings are so precise that they can be mistaken for photographs.

This interesting accordion fold book is by Michael Hurst.

This is Louise Levergneux's final book, based on her name and all the songs that have the name "Louise" in the title or the lyrics. Each page is created like an old 45rpm record. The stack of "records" fits in the metal canister.

This is Patti Pitts' final creation containing several books within the larger book and telling a story of the discovery of silk.



Artists' Books at the University of Utah, Part 3



Front cover

 We turned in our second book assignment tonight and had a round robin critique session. Some of the books were absolutely amazing. All of them were creative. Mine was a little on the standard side. I am, having a bit of trouble thinking out of the traditional format. I was hard pressed to come up with a text only or image only book. I wanted to reformat some old poetry of mine, but as I read through my stuff after many years, all I can say about my poetry is that it is very bad writing and even worse poetry! The only writing that was any good, well, very good were my translations of a few poems of Lope de Vega Carpio, 1562-1613. They are free verse translations which I feel convey his thoughts and images but are not exact translations. The poems are deeply religious, but they approach the subject from a strange point of view. I have always enjoyed reading them and find them thought provoking.

I decided to transpose the form of the poems from the standard poetry form in which I had originally written them and bind the signatures together with a pamphlet stitch. I agonized over the cover for several days and decided to use gold wallpaper and a red cord for the binding. The red cord I had in mind turned out to be too fine, so I dyed some gray cording red and used an exposed spine. I left the ends of the cord long to use as a tie to secure the cover.



This shows the inside of the front cover.

 



This is the first poem in the book.

  Artists' Books blog one.   Artists' Books blog two.

Artists' Books at the University of Utah, Part 2

The Artists' Books class I am taking at the University of Utah is a bit different than I was expecting: less making of books and more exploring the philosophy of bookworks. There is a lot of reading and some interesting discussion of what is "book arts." We do have to create four major works and several quick books based on class demonstrations. I must also do a 5 to 10 minute oral book artist report on the 22 of February. I chose Johanna Drucker as my subject. The rare books department at the university has copies of three of her bookworks that I may use in my report. They do not have Twenty-Six '76 Let Hers: Not A Matter of Permission, but there is a fascinating  page from that book on the Internet that I will use.

The second week of the class, Luise Poulton, of the university library Special Collections/Rare Books division presented a History of the Book and Artists' Books (pre-1960), wherein we were able to handle and closely examine 21 books from the collection. That may not sound too exciting for some people, but it is like I told my wife when I spent as much time as I could in the art museums in Washington, D.C: It is one thing to view a work of art in a printed source or on the computer screen, but it is an entirely different emotional experience to stand before the actual, physical object and embrace the reality of the object. I took notes on several of the bindings and formats used by the book artists so that I can experiment with my own books.

Last week we participated in paper decoration: paste papers, stenciling, various image transfer methods, all of which I have done numerous times; and Suminagashi, which I had seen demonstrated before but had not yet done myself. We then made a small accordion fold book with the decorated papers.

Yesterday was session number seven. Bill and Vicky Stewart, owners of Vamp and Tramp Booksellers, brought a wonderful selection of the books that they travel around the United States selling to collectors and libraries. There were several that I would have liked to buy, but they are way out of my price range. I will just have to make my own.

In the second batch of readings that we discussed last night in the class, there were several lines and paragraphs that jumped out at me. The following is from Book Arts in the USA by Richard Minsky, founder of the Center for Book Arts:

A single copy of a book is a curious thing. Even when part of a large edition, it is rarely considered disposable. People have books on their shelves that they haven't looked at in years, yet they don't throw them out or even give them away. A passing glance at the shelf gives a reassuring feeling, a reminder of the knowledge one has absorbed. They are old friends, these volumes, and just seeing them reminds us not only of their stories or facts, but of the time we spent with them. ...

In Book Arts the container works with the content. ...

Artists' Books at the University of Utah

I was very blessed this week. I am able to take Art 4090, Artists' Books, at the University of Utah on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is a class run through the Book Arts Program at the Marriott Library. I have taken numerous book arts workshops and one university class for non-credit during the last ten years. I teach origami books, art books across the curriculum, and a history of the book for honors language arts classes at my school. I have also taught basic book arts for several libraries in the Salt Lake County Library System, at professional conferences, and at the Barnes & Noble in Sandy, Utah. I have thoroughly enjoyed learning about books, making books, and teaching others to make books. I am now of an age where I am able to audit university classes as a "senior" citizen (I don't feel like a senior citizen). It is a state mandated program administered through the continuing education departments of state universities and colleges. You pay a small audit tuition for the term and any class materials fees required for the classes you want to audit. Of course, you also have to hope there is room in the class and that the instructor will give you an add number to complete the registration.

This is the opening page of a book I made for my grandson.

I saw the class listed in the Book Arts schedule on line and thought and pondered much about how I could organize my overly busy life and take the class. After investigating the senior audit possibilities and learning how the program works, I decided to throw caution, and a few of my too many school and out of school activities, to the wind and try it. Tuesday after school, I went to the first class to see if there were any room left for an old man to take the class as an audit, and if so, procure the add number I needed to complete my registration through continuing education. The class was almost full with three university students needing to add the class. The instructors, Marnie Powers-Torrey and Chris McAffee, from whom I have taken many workshops and classes in the past, said the university students should have the slots, and I agreed without hesitation or reservation.  Marnie said I could stay until the end of class to see if any one would drop out and leave room for me. I stoically hid my disappointment behind a nodding smile as I listened to Chris cover the syllabus and demonstrate the Guillotine paper and board cutters. Of course, no one dropped out.

Before the end of class, after they had given the three students add numbers, Marnie talked to me and said that she and Chris wanted me to be able to take the class even though it was full (to the top and over flowing). I told her that I didn't want to be a problem for them. She said I wasn't a problem, and if I would come to class and not take a seat, maybe sit on the side where the aides sit, unless someone was absent they would let me in. I said I would be happy to sit on the floor in the corner if need be. She gave me a class add number, and Wednesday morning I completed the registration. I am very grateful to Marnie and Chris and am extremely happy that I have had a past association and history with them such that they know I am not going to disappoint them. On Thursday when I arrived, Chris told me that a student had dropped the class so everything was fine. I wouldn't have to be a sideline sitter or sit on the floor in the corner!

I finished the first assignment, a class sketchbook/journal, before class on Thursday and have been deeply pondering how I am going to create the first artist book, Sequencing a Single Image, which is due on January 25. My only problem is sifting through all the flashes of ideas to settle on just the "right' one. As Mark Twain said, " The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug." So it is with Artists' Books!