Summer at the Beach by Stephanie Mahan Stigliano (2005)

Writing from the depths of a long winter it is therapeutic to discuss a book that calls to mind the distant balmy days of summer. In the Herron Collection nothing does this quite like Stephanie Mahan Stigliano's "Summer at the Beach" that draws on objects found on the beach which are used in the creation of a book about memory. Playful and poignant at the same time, and consisting of a box with a slotted lid and carved in low relief with collographs and hand-painted, the book contains 26 "pages" that are painted bottle caps, known as "coins", found on the beach with texts lining the insides of the coins and protected beneath sand-encrusted resin. The texts are brief statements, possibly a dissected poem, that could be interpreted to connect the sea, life, the ponderings of a beach-comber, or a creature of the shore. Examples are "Can my delicate shell protect me?", "I am as ruthless as a shark", "I drift away", "Sun-warmed water is above and the cold is below-two parts of my divided self", "I melt inside and dissolve in his arms", "I am chosen and float to the surface", "Out of control of my destiny, I am [a] jellyfish tossed by the waves". The coins of memory and contemplation are dropped through the slot in the box lid, rattling against each other as they fall. This is one in a series of "Memory Books" by the author using slotted boxes and bottle caps. Others include "City Sights and Sounds" (2004). 

Insecta by Linda Broadfoot (Text by A. S. Byatt) : Published by  Linda L. Broadfoot, 2005

Insecta by Linda Broadfoot (Image courtesy of Vamp & Tramp, Booksellers)

One's first impression of this wonderful 'book' is of a custom-made Schmitt insect specimen box made from maple and poplar with brass hinges and clasp, and title label holder that states "Insecta". However, opening it reveals six bound portfolios each containing colour images of insect specimens veiled behind shimmering silk organza screens that lend texture to the illustrations and give the impression of movement and flight, imbuing the insect images with life. The six portfolios titled Lepidoptera I and II, Diptera Hymenoptera Odonata, Hemiptera, Coleoptera, and Neuroptera show butterflies, moths, wasps an ants, cicadas, firebugs, beetles, antlions, and owlflies, among others, in their vibrant glory, and are accompanied by A.S. Byatt's story, "Things Are Not What They Seem" bound separately, providing a magical guide to the 30 illustrations of the specimens.

In her artist's statement Linda Broadfoot says:

"In the spring of 2001, I began to borrow insect specimens from the Florida State Collection of Arthropods. Carefully transporting this delicate cargo to New York, I used the Polaroid 20 x 24 Studio to make large image transfers of my subjects. I was working with an alternative photography process—after the initial exposure, the image is transferred to watercolor paper, and then refined by hand to mute portions of its surface. The final piece is titled with the specimen's Latin name, in the tradition of ars botania. Selecting from more than 60 originals, I chose the work enclosed in this book to make small prints on fine art paper for these pages.

"Upon discovering in British author A.S. Byatt's Angels and Insects the mystic tale 'Things Are Not What They Seem,' I knew it was the ideal narrative frame for these strange and beautiful creatures. Her words are included here not only as a vital element but a numinous guide to viewing this Cabinet of Wonder. Such a tradition can be traced to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when European gentry compiled collections of oddities and exotic artifacts from the New World. These Wunderkammern were Cabinets of Curiosities to those who were bound to their parlors as the wonders of untamed lands flooded into their ports.

"Insecta is a modern-day Wunderkammer. Here, the reader may take an active part in the revelation of the cabinet's contents, a balance of the creations of both God and man—nature and art."

The colophon states that A. S. Byatt's text is printed on Hahnemuhl'e Biblio paper and the images are printed by the artist on Crane's Museo paper using Ultrachrome inks and are enclosed in silk organza pockets mounted on Hahnemuhle's Copperplate.

Insecta was published in a limited edition of 50 copies. The copy in the Herron School of Art & Design Library, IUPUI, is no. 27

Al-Mutanabbi Street

On March 5th, 2007, a car bomb exploded on al-Mutanabbi Street near the old quarter of Baghdad in Iraq. Named after the 10th century classical Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi, the street was filled with bookstores and outdoor book stalls and was considered to be the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in the explosion, and the street and its community were destroyed.

One response to the attack was the formation of another community, this one of international artists and writers, who came together to produce a collection of broadsheets, artists’ books, and writings expressing the broader artistic community’s solidarity with that of Iraq. Instigated by a San Francisco bookseller, Beau Beausoleil, artists were invited to submit broadsheets, artists’ books and writings to commemorate this tragic event. This coalition of contributing artists calls itself the Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here Coalition. Since its formation the coalition has sought to support and promote awareness of the enduring nature of the written word, art, and freedom of expression. The attack on Al-Mutanabbi Street has been seen as an assault on these basic principles, as well as on the artistic community as a whole, and that the suffering of Al-Mutanabbi Street, its community, its businesses, and what it represents in the wider cultural context, is shared by the global cultural community. Each artist was requested to create 3 copies of their response that would reflect both the strength and fragility of books, but would also show the endurance of the ideas they express. Here at the Herron Library we are fortunate to have, as part of our permanent collection, three of the works created in response to the bombing. A complete set of all the books will be donated to the Iraq National Library in Baghdad. Another set will tour the world demonstrating the universality of the artistic response. The Herron Library has been chosen as one of the libraries that will co-curate and exhibit the entire collection of over 250 books and broadsheets. This will take place in October, 2014.

On December 18, 2008, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki officially reopened Al-Mutanabbi Street.

In the Herron Art Library the following 3 artists’ books are on permanent display.

Memento
By Julie Chen 
Berkeley [California]: Flying Fish Press, 2012.  Number 12 of an edition of 50.

A custom-made copper case/locket (1.8125 x 2.375 x 0.75") by Christina Kemp houses on one side a miniature book (1.5 x 2.125 x 0.375", 56 pages) letterpress printed on Kitakata and opens on the other side to reveal a triptych. The case/locket and a web strip (for wearing the locket) are housed in cavities in a padded clamshell box (5.625 x 6.75 x 2.875") with title on the cover. The colophon slips into a groove in the box's base. Materials: copper box: bookcloth; binder's board; satin; plexiglass.

Julie Chen: "Memento is about the fragility of the book and the power of reading. It includes a miniature book that is housed in a metal locket that allows the reader to wear the book close to the body. The simple act of carrying a book on one's person has diverse implications depending on circumstance and place. The locket also houses a triptych that contains a woven token commemorating Al-Mutanabbi Street in Iraq. The texts on the woven strips are taken from the preambles to the constitutions of the United States and Iraq. The image surrounding the token is of a booksellers stall on Al-Mutanabbi Street prior to the bombing in 2007. While the commemorative aspect of this piece is clear, the content of Memento addresses philosophical questions about the nature of reading and information transfer in our own lives as well as within the context of western culture in general. This edition is part of An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street."

Memory of Al-Mutanabbi Street

by Christine Kermaire [Charleroi, Belgium : Christine Kermaire] 2012. Number 157 of an edition of 300.

Four rectangular pieces of tan paper folded into three over-lapping layers and attached at one end to a black and gray houndstooth print fabric and pasteboard cover. The book consists of the names of people who were killed in the car bombing, inscribed around an endless screw and pulled by a red thread. The graphics were inspired by the lintels of wood carving “ham yo“) placed at the front of the houses to protect against “the wrong spirits” (Asia).(Artist’s description)

Memory of Al-Mutanabbi Street

And a second title in Christine Kermaire’s “An Inventory of Al-Mutanabbi Street” trilogy:

Future of Al-Mutanabbi Street

by Christine Kermaire 

[Charleroi, Belgium : Christine Kermaire] 2012. Number 157 of an edition of 300.

Future of Al-Mutanabbi Street

Contains nine mounted miniature printed books with marbled paper covers, each containing the same English language text of a poetic passage by the Iraqi poet Al-Mutanabbi, and bound in hounds- tooth silk-screened cloth.

Event

The Herron Art Library will host a reading on March 5^th, 2014 (4-6 pm) to commemorate the bombing of Al-Mutanabbi Street. The event is free and open to the public. These books and a selection of broadsheets created in response to the bombing are on display.

Library Books
By Rebecca Goodale
Portland, Maine: Rebecca Goodale, 1998 (26.7 x 27.9 cm.) Ink and collage on paper.

Working in a library, as I do, there is an attraction to images that reflect that environment and depict the landscape that is familiar to any librarian, particularly when depicted from an unusual perspective. The attraction of Rebecca Goodale's "Library Books" is that it presents an almost voyeuristic view of a library from outside through its panelled windows. The front cover, bound in cloth, opens to reveal two women inside the library, card cut-outs lent depth and perspective by the book's tunnel concertina design. Among a naive impression of library shelves, one woman is seated on a chair reading a book entitled "Paris". The other woman, standing, can be seen through a door frame behind her browsing the shelves. A vase of tulips sits on a small side-table behind which a standard lamp stands in the corner. Through the library's 'rear' window, a third woman is visible, sitting in an armchair with a book open on her lap. The quiet library scene is bright and colorful, the open windows inviting.

Materials and Romano Hanni's "typo bilder buch"

It's not just the format and structure of Artists' Books that challenge author/artists, it is also the materials they use even in quasi-traditional formats such as the traditional book. One delightful and surprising example of this is Romano Hanni's "typo bilder buch" (typo picture book) which, while appearing to be a hefty volume, is feather-like in weight. The reason for this is that the book is letterpress printed on a hand-proofing press on paper towels hand-sewn together. Bound in corrugated cardboard and using four colours this book is an explosion and exploration of shapes, colours, designs, and scripts. The author states, in a humorous extension of his reasoning  "Since the invention of script and the printed word, we have lost access to pictorial statements: we have become character devout. Nonetheless, we still read images. Fluent reading is based solely on prejudices. The knowledgeable rdeaer deos not pecie toghteer indaidviul chaearcrts to from wrods but peircvees wrod imeags in tiehr etitrney. However, when reading images, signs and symbols, we seem to struggle, even though they also represent a source of information with a simulatneous effect on various levels. Initially, our visual perception looks for symmetry and a human face…." (believe me, the spelling is intentional!) 

In his artist's statement, Hanni goes on to say  "Page format [of typo bilder buch] was determined by the paper: Paper towels, maxi roll; composition: 100% oxygen-bleached pulp, wet strength additives, agents; roll length: 62.1 m +/- 2%, sheet size: 23 x 26cm, +/- 2%, paper from responsible sources [approved by the Forest Stewardship Council]…. 

"The design and sequence of the pages were intended to develop during the work process. The first printing forms were blue lines and linear frameworks at the bottom of the pages. New ideas developed during the unrolling and tearing off of double pages of paper towel as well as during composition, setup, printing, and removing of the type. The printing workshop represents the available raw materials: Lead characters, synthetics and wood, brass lines and signs, typographic sign and lead symbols. The typo pictures were composed from individual parts and printed on the hand proofing press; some of them were superimposed in several printing cycles. They are intended to mutually influence and merge into each other and to display an inner connection. The body of the book was bound by hand with thread. Overall production time was approx. 600 hours. This picture book would be delighted if it were used as inspiration to tell a spontaneously made-up story."

Supplement: "The purpose of this book is its purposelessness – superficially speaking."

This book is both visually exciting and physically surprising in its use of materials and design to express the artist's philosophy about the way we read, particularly the way we read images.

There's a copy on display at the Herron Art Library, Herron School of Art and Design, IUPUI, Indianapolis.

Fun and Games at the Herron Art Library

An indication of the diversity of content and format of Artists' Books is that while some are 'book-like' and invite the 'reader' to treat them like conventional books, others are not. Indeed many are of such unusual formats and structures that they seem more like puzzles or games. One such book is Nora Robertson's and Helen Hiebert's "The Pop-UP Hand Shadow Book". Helen Hiebert describes it as ".. featur[ing] four illustrated animal hand shadows in a theatrical book structure. The animals are brought to life as the viewer plays with a mini flashlight (packaged with the book), casting shadows onto panels behind the pop-ups in the book. A verse about each animal, by the poet appears on each page."  

Created in Hiebert's Colorado studio in 2012 this item is further described by the bookseller, Vamp & Tramp (http://www.vampandtramp.com) as "6.75 x 7.375" closed, and extending to 6.175 x 18 x 8"; 4 pages. Letterpress printed and laser-cut paper pages. Gate fold with fold-out pop-up panels. Housed in a cherry and plywood box with cut-outs of each animal featured in the book. Includes a mini-flashlight. Signed and numbered by the poet and artist." A poem accompanies each of the four images of Goose, Alligator, Baby birds, and Snail with visual instructions to use your hands to replicate the shadow images. The real fun is when the small torch is used to project the images against the back 'screen' of each page. Magical fun for any age.

The Pop-UP Hand Shadow Book
Images courtesy of Vamp & Tramp

The Artists' Books collection at Herron Library is not, of course, an accident. On the contrary, the collection is result of the hard and dedicated work and vision of the Special Collections librarian, Sonja Staum-Kuniej, who has methodically developed and managed it with a passionate commitment to high quality and access. The manifestation of Sonja Staum-Kuniej's vision requires both the determination and the ability to identify resources necessary to build the collection and the facilities to display it in the best possible way. In Mark and Carmen Holeman, Sonja and Herron Library found generous benefactors whose enthusiasm for the collection matched her own. The Holemans have an intimate involvement with each item in the collection, examine them closely and maintain a high level of knowledge about Artists' Books in general. They have their own favorite 'creators' but share Sonja's aspiration to develop a broad collection that represents as many diverse representations of this art form as possible. This is a marriage of like minds for the benefit of the community in general, and that of the library and its users in particular.