Beyond bombs and burning...

I posted my three books for the Al-Mutanabbi St project off to the UK today.

Here is what I said about them:

This book reminds us that even when books are burned, the ideas and thoughts within them survive. They are absorbed into people’s minds; they are shared between friends; and they become even more powerful. In this book, burned pages are held within light timber covers, which can be read as a sacred object or as a book. 

The quotes used are: 
Every burned book enlightens the world (Ralph Waldo Emerson) 
The paper burns but the words fly away (Akiba Ben Joseph) 
Books cannot be killed by fire (Franklin D Roosevelt)

I had thought I would do a concertina book; but couldn't find an elegant or meaningful solution. Then I thought I might wrap the pages and bind them somehow, but I couldn't find a good way to do that either. I started to see in my mind's eye the bifold doors of an icon - the back panel with two side panels, and thought that might work with my three pages.

And so it was.

Standing, the first glimpses.

Fully open, standing.

Fully open, lying flat like a book.

We bought the beautiful small hinges in Prague last year - with the notion of using them on books well and truly in my mind. This then led to the trick about how to attach them to covered grey board covers, and so I turned to wood. But not wood that might cause customs problems in differing countries where they travel; rather balsa wood which is light, clean and crosses borders well. It is also  bit delicate, and will bear the marks of being handled.

The pages in more detail.

The three books together.

I have made an edition of 5 and I will keep one book for myself and the other will be available for sale at some point. I wish them safe travels.

cutting, inking, burning...

As mentioned previously I am working on three books for the Al-Mutannabi St Starts here project.

I have now managed to cut out the pages for the three books (my finger gave up cutting out all five pages I had prepared - here's hoping I don't stuff any up).

The remnants of cutting out nine pages.

Here are the nine lined up, and overlapped and looking lovely - I am quite fond of the white, the negative space and the layering of multiples.

And here is the page after I painted walnut ink onto the the pages. Quite gorgeous in its own right!

After drying, slight smoking and then more smoking...

Edging closer...

More burning, more books

Most of my major artistic commitments are over for the year, with a few exceptions.  I have to deliver three books to the Al-Mutannabi StStarts here project in the UK by December.

These books have literally been on the back burner for most of the year as I pulled together the work for the exhibition.  But they have been percolating away in my sub-conscious on occasions. I managed a few scribbled ideas, a few notes jotted here, sketches there.

I have finally had time to to test the ideas; not yet to make the books; but to test ideas and start the work.

At first I thought I would work large and tried some writing templates.

I cut one out to see how it looked - all pristine and white it was.  I figured it needed to look more burnt, damaged or as if it had been through a bit at least. So I waved it over a flame to see if I could get the smoke marks I was  after. And I did like them.

On the opposite side I had inked it up with walnut ink to see what that looked like - would the brown link more to burning? I liked it. I smoked that side a bit too; then started to think about scorching and burning the edges of the paper.

Which of course can end in tears if one is not focussing properly! I wasn't actually looking for a full burn-through effect, so have decided not to go with the flame burning and will test something else out instead.

Overall,I didn't really like the large size and how large the letters had to be to try and fill the space, so I went down a few notches in size.

I tested them out with skeleton letters, then the thicker letters.

 And decide I liked it. My mind then turned to which side to cut out from?  I could transfer the letters to the front of the page and cut them out from the front; but then I was left with the need to rub out all the pencil marks - a bit risky with fragile joins and connections on the pages.

If I cut from behind (with the template reversed) then I was left with these extra sort of folded up bits on the edges of letters.

But I could smooth them out with teflon bone folder - I also discovered if I changed the blade more frequently then the the folds didn't appear much at all.

And so I prepared fifteen pages. I cut one template for each of the three quotes, then traced it on to 5 pages.

Here they are before cutting.  Quite a time-consuming process to even get this far. Next - cutting, inking and scorching!