Tuesday, May 22, 2012

A subversive stitch complete

I have sent these little books out into the world and they appear to have reached their far-flung homes so it seems safe now to talk about the process and the finished product in a bit more detail.

The story behind BookArtObject this time around is that Sarah Bodman wrote 100 short stories based on Kurt Johannessen's book Exercises, where one of the tasks was to write 100 stories and bury them in a forest", which she duly did. If you want to know more, you can follow this link...  Each story had a title, (the full list is here) and we were able to nominate which one we would interpret.  I chose first of all "A subversive stitch", and secondly "snow falling in daylight". With no idea what the real short story of that title is like, I headed off with an open mind.

My mind wandered across several different thoughts and approaches for this book and I settled on a combination of ideas around women's work and stitching, darning, and embroidering; about censorship and letters written home during the wars where sentence were blacked out, leaving the safe words showing; about stitching to remove words and leaving others; about history where men mostly got to write it and women weren't featured. Quite an amalgam.

I machine-stitched the words away on the cover, leaving the important ones behind, with threads dangling madly everywhere. On the inside pages, the words are sealed in place and can’t be easily removed or erased; and yet the tracing paper makes it a bit hard to discern what is written. The words are printed on paper where I had also printed an image of the threads off all the covers.

All of the words I used are my own.  I am finding it much more satisfying these days to either work with my own words, or those of people I know, rather than than simply working with someone famous' words.  I still love working with others' words, but my own words are beginning to add another dimension to my work I think.

Here is the book from front to back.









Given so much of my work is quiet, subdued and uses a simple palette - this was a very liberating and exuberant book to make. I loved the mess of the threads, I loved the boldness of the colour, and I loved the messages.  A lot of my work is about quietness, peace and gentleness; yet this piece has a bit of the feminist in me in it which I thoroughly enjoyed expressing!

29 comments:

  1. I like the approach and I very much like the result, Fiona.Especially the colour choice;very revolutionary!

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  2. Yes - exuberant! I love your choice of this word - it captures the energy of the book perfectly. And what a beautiful contrast between the quiet words elegantly encased in tracing paper & the vivid/wild threads. It's a gorgeous symbiosis of content and form...

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  3. Exuberant, but quietly powerful. There's a strength in your words, the stitches, the pages...just all of it, that is contagious.

    So...tell me...who is allowed to participate in BOA? You've got me so very, very intrigued.

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  4. Fiona this is beautifully thought out, created and has a lovely sensative touch. Very moving.

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  5. Beautiful work,gentle but gutsy,messy but ordered. I love the juxtapositions in this book. Wish I was in your group. Did you make any extras?

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  6. Wow. This is an amazing piece of work! Everything is in perfect harmony, from the color choices to the content, to the contrasts of neat stitching and wild threads, so perfectly capturing the female spirit, and the words themselves. This is so much more than an artists book - it's a little history lesson in a beautiful package! Brava!

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  7. This is a gem Fiona, love the starkness and minimal against the power of the red, gorgeously tangled threads. Wonderful.

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  8. This is so layered in concept... it is telling me all kinds of stories, beautful, evocative, powerful and intense. And I love the burying 100 stories in the forest idea, great.

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  9. Love all those red threads and the screens that mute the words.

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  10. great stuff F!
    hey - have you read the book? ('the subversive stitch' - rozsika parker -- http://www.amazon.com/The-Subversive-Stitch-Embroidery-Feminine/dp/0415902061) its deliciously juicy stuff

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  11. I LOVE the loose threads, the choice of colour, the message - all of it! Its also nice to see in context of size holding in your hand.

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  12. Lovely to see this little book again - it photographs beautifully. Almost as delicious as the 'real' thing. love the lusty red - strong and provocative.

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  13. This is magnificent, Fiona! Clever, beautiful and subversive...

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  14. This is superb Fiona! And lovely that yu are using your own words as well now. Congratulations!

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  15. fiona, i love this book! you have totally pulled it together in this piece, well done, indeed!

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  16. powerful expression here...beautiful!

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  17. This is totally delightful and inspiring. I love the message(s) and the creative way you 'tied' it all together!

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  18. Very well done! The cover is thought provoking and beautiful and the chaos of the threads captivating.

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  19. Organised chaos... with a subtle message. Congratulations Fiona.

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  20. Congratulations Fiona, love that you can still read the stitched text and the wonderful tangle of threads.

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  21. I love this work Fiona, so powerful and delicate at the same time…Perfection!

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  22. Hi all - many thanks of your support for this wee book!

    Dinah - red is such a wicked colour when used right isn't it? Viva la revolution!

    Lisa - thank you - exuberant it is. I loved the contrasts as well - the hidden/tethered and the clearly unleashed!

    Thanks Jennifer - I like this book as well with its combination of messages and bibs and bobs. Well...if you're really keen there are still a few titles left in BAO for this edition! Anyone can join and we have a wide range of skills and backgrounds, I can put you in touch with Sara Bowen at Double Elephant blog who runs it if you like...

    Thank you Alison - I'm glad you enjoyed it.

    Hi Jack - actually I did! I'm glad you like the juxtapositions (one of my favourite words) the chaos versus the controlled, the hidden versus the revealed...let's talk about a swap maybe?

    G/Tt - thank you - I'm so pleased that you find it a good piece that manages to do all those bits...thank you!

    Judy - thanks! I'm glad. It's got a good feel to it and those threads are soooooo wild!

    Thank you Liz - the contrasts are there aren't they? I am fond of this wee one and glad you enjoyed it.

    Hi Valerianna - thanks! Yes that burying thing is brilliant isn't it? And I love the idea of 100 story titles too - I could almost work my way thru the entire oeuvre I think. I'm glad it's telling you stories, whispering things...go well.

    Thanks Annie - I am totally in love with the threads, and I like the contrast with the muting as you put it ...Yours are words I love to work with!!

    Hi Ronnie - I have checked it out online but not read it. There are some great things out there when you search for subversive stitch; like men who embroidered stuff in camps in germany in ww2 which were quite subversive as well.

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  23. Hi Kim - those threads are tantalising aren't they? And they feel great in the hand - I love rolling them thru my fingers. It's a personal kind of book so it is nice to see it in the hand so to speak.

    Thanks Susan - fancy me using red! It is a real delight isn't it - and nice to hold I think.

    Thank you Stregata - such lovely things to say about it...go well.

    Hi Amanda - yes as a calligrapher we tend to be trained to write out other people's words, and more and more I think I could use my skills to express myself even better. Glad you enjoyed it.

    Hi V - glad you like it! It has all come together really well - I feel a whole new series of works on women coming on...

    Laura - thank you for your comment and for taking the time - I'm glad you enjoyed it.

    Thanks Terrie - yes lots of loose threads to tie together indeed!

    Hi Jo - the chaos of the threads - that they are! I think it has worked as a whole which is nice, and am proud of it, so that's a good sign!

    Hello Jo - organised chaos could describe my life in general as well! Thanks and go well, F

    Thanks Helen - it's good to still know what was written, but have to work for it I think. It's great exchange isn't it? I am getting some really fabulous books. Go well.

    Thanks Suzie - I love that you can feel its power and its gentleness all the way over there...take care.

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  24. Quite a masterpiece Fiona....just exquisite!!! Congratulations!!

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  25. Powerful, very meaningful. I just love the red threads, if you could hear them they'd be a cacophony, I'm sure.

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  26. Thanks Patti - I'm fond of it as well.

    What perfect descriptor Carol - a cacophony for sure; they are quite a riot!

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  27. What a fascinating, well thought out and well made book on so many levels. I just had to chime in here with my admiration of it!

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  28. Thank you Ellen and apologies for not getting back to you earlier. I like that you enjoyed its levels...and am pleased it wasn't a mish-mash. Go well!

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I appreciate your thoughts and comments; thanks for taking the time.