Part 5 Project 2 - Artists Books Part 2

I registered to receive the Edge Zine produced by OCA students and was sent 2 copies in error so it seemed like an invitation to use one as the base for a book. The theme was Change which also invited modification and is very appropriate in the light of recent political changes both in the UK and across the world. Keeping the theme I modified the pages in reaction to the content of the zine but with an eye to what was happening in the news. Some articles instantly inspired change whilst for others I had to think a bit deeper.

Millions of people...united by computers

Depending on how you look at it, Change isn't always an improvement

I had to think long and hard about this one. In the end I went for David Bowie (Labyrinth Era) as a down and out. (Taking my cues from the text)

I've covered up most of the text but it talks of Volution = a rolling or revolving motion....clockwork hands chart the movement of time....flowers wilting and wabi-sabi

An obvious response to the current situation in America. The underlying text is about female equality

I'm not cheating (much) here. The original text runs to a second double paged spread with the banner holding protester

 This piece was about building decay. I couldn't think of a new image that worked with the original piece so I photocopied and inverted the dark picture which is based on a derelict station building. I made 2 cut out versions which I pasted over a tissue paper cut out, loosely based on St Pancras station (which is both a station and a secular cathedral) and was rescued from decay.

The piece relates Sam Cooke to Barack Obama. You can see traces of my earliest experiments with the zine which involved folding it

No caption required

The pictures are about birds and climate change. I related this to flooding.

ECG traces descending through disruptions to death

 On the right a disjointed mirror reflecting the viewers face. On the left, overlaid paper cut-outs of the changes in head shape from baby to adult. When opened out (below) they reveal a tree which refers back to the authors reflection on her rediscovered connection to the natural world.

Roselyne Edwards had drawn the ageing of her mother from family photos. I used cut out paper to separate them from their backgrounds and link them to the tree of life

This was my first drawing before I had really got into the swing of things. The figure attempting to change an old picture frame into a mount for a Go Pro camera. It also links to the people who congregate in the Turbine Hall in The Tate, focused on the changes in the exhibition and not tuned in to the world around them.

Another rather obvious reference. America is changing.

A bit literal here.

Who are we, who sit so close to Europe but look across the world?

I used the zine as a sketch book but made preliminary sketches for some of the modifications. 

Testing placards

Ideas for page 4

More ideas for page 4 and for page 1

More ideas for page 1 and for page 12

Reflection
I have never used an existing book as a sketchbook before and I found the exercise, on some levels, quite liberating. As I filled the pages the need to make a cohesive body of work grew and it became more challenging. Using the text as a starting point to generate ideas was useful and this would be a great technique to deal with artists block. It's also interesting to work with a broad theme especially one that encompasses ideas that are currently in the news. I have enjoyed making both of my responses to this project. If I am to take either of these ideas forward I would need to work in making something much more robust to cope with repeated handling.

Feedback

For this project I made my own books in the shape of fans. These lacked content. My approach was to use the way the viewer moved the pages to change the weather but I spent too long making the physical pages and not enough time on the visual elements within.
I modified the pages of the Edge fanzine but in doing so I moved away from the original theme and the finished project was incoherent. A better approach would have consolidated the theme.
Look at the work of Les Bicknell 

 Les Bicknell, in his own words:

"my practice in general explores the book; specifically ideas around a sense of place.The book as a symbol of power and knowledge can be a vehicle to communicate directly; it is a form that is understood in these terms but repositioning its context and purpose challenges these very notions. The work becomes a question rather than an answer, a collaboration between maker and reader/viewer. The practical aspects of the book form, of disseminating information; of making things clearer is an interesting idea to question.The sculptural forms are derived from and examine the book form. The work explores the idea of form as a content and manipulation as the narrative.The work positions itself conceptually and physically between and within the idea of both sculpture and book. The hybrid nature of the work finds its roots in both forms – exploring and challenging both genres.The idea of a sense of place comes from stillness and silence, a reflective experience of taking time to look, listen and consider the spaces I find myself in and my connection to them. The immediate landscape around my house and the walks I undertake provide a starting point for the work, the unseen and the seen have equal worth when making the work. "

He is a prolific blogger, writing eloquently and entertainingly about the art scene, not just book art, so it can be difficult to drill down to book related art. 

This is from his blog

I found the video of Fractal folds mesmerising. How do you conceive something so complicated and then demonstrate it so fluently? Works such as the Louth Millennium Sculpture project work with figurative sculpture and text. Does this still count as a book? it is telling an unfolding tale. Similarly Beyond is text displayed on stone.
A book can lead you on an imaginative journey away from where you expect to be. Unpicking and rebinding considers the fabric of the book as a device and then wanders off into the world of folds, folding and then into smocking. Bicknell's work is an encouragement to follow ideas away from expected routes. His books are sometimes about the object itself rather than the content (the early fold works) but can lead into more narrative pieces as they develop. He also sounds like an engaged and exciting tutor. I am inspired by the variety and quantity of work that he produces, many artists have only a few pieces online and never seem to change them which makes it hard to understand individual work in a wider context.