Artists' Books , Part 6

The book three assignment for the Artists' Book class was to stretch the idea of bookness as far as possible and still be justified as a book. I used an old Kodak slide carousel as the basis for the shape of the book and the "spine" that holds everything together. I used eighty sheets of card stock that I stained with crepe and tissue paper and water. The stains on most of the pages remind me of marbling. Other pages suggest stained glass.

I made a template and cut all eighty pages so they fit in the slide tray. Each page is folded and glued on the inner edge.

I originally thought I would stamp a number on each page, but I decided that the numbers on the slide tray would be enough for the pagination. Without numbers on the pages, they can be removed, examined and rearranged in any order. I also thought I would do some type of design on each page, geometric or or free form, but i couldn't conceive of a design progression for eighty pages. I also did not want to detract from the coloring of the pages, each one being unique.

I also took the slide tray box and fashioned a box to house the finished "book." The title of the book is Quatre-Vingts Feuilles or Eighty Leaves (sheets). I chose a French title to lend an air of elegance.