Artist's Book - THE EYE

I constructed the book from cardboard and made a concertina form of book. I took apart a book I purchased some time ago with blank pages, and copied how they had constructed the front cover.

The most important thing in making this book, I decided, was to understate rather than overdo. This required me to rein myself in quite a bit.

I found a number of old books from Savers. Some of the pages were so old that they feel easily apart between my fingers. This created different tones of newsprint which I thought more appealing than white newsprint. I purchased also a few editions of a Childrens' encyclopedia from Savers, dating back to the early 1900's. I used a few copies of pictures from these. I was indirectly inspired by the look of the old books, the way they smelt, felt and looked. In fact as a result I am now purchasing old books on a regular basis just for the look of them! The covers are often interesting and unusual.

The box is covered also in newsprint and painted with Shellac. I had not known of the existence of Shellac before this project. Mixed with methalyted spirits and left overnight, it creates a rather interesting yellow mixture which gives the look of aging when applied. Shellac is often used for french polishing but is to be found in art shops for other uses as well.

During the first semester Naomi, a fellow classmate, had a journal which she tied with white ribbon. The way the journal looked tied with this made it look cared for and important. So I think I will look for something similar to tie the box down.

The collaging of the back of the book must still happen. I will complete this during the next week.

Artist's Book Part III

Artist's Book Part II

artist's book