New Mexico Magazine, February, 2011, section Artscapes, p 22-25
BOUND TO BE DISCOVERED by Johnny D. Boggs
As a novelist and lover of books, I've always considered that a book is a thing to hold, touch, and feel, to admire, cherish, and enjoy - something to read and, perhaps, read again and again - and again. Even when I'm reading a book for research purposes, I consider the impact before I dog-ear a page, or underline or highlight a passage. So you'll be happy to know - at least, I was - that most artists who work in the medium of altered books also respect the artforms of writing and printing words, and carefully consider the consequences before tearing off a cover, or drawing on or ripping out pages.
"I am paying homage to books," says Santa Fe artist Lynne Hendrick, "but there are times when I am using them as the medium in a larger dialogue. It was a brave and somewhat traumatic and intimidating action to destroy so many books in the larger installations I did - ironically, with the intent to draw attention to their value and beauty."
"I don't think I could alter a Bible or Qur'an or any book that had spiritual or religious meaning to someone," says native New Mexican Joy M. Campbell, also a Santa Fe artist who works in altered books.
However, as Albuquerque artist and instructor Juliana Coles points out, altered books have always challenged artists and viewers. "I think artist like crossing that line and challenging people," she says, "and trying to make them uncomfortable. But for a lot of people, it's very scary to make that first mark in a book."
In the altering of books, a book's original structure is transformed into something new and completely different. Once considered an avant-garde category more craft than art, altered books have become a rich and widely accepted artform. "It's not a typcial art project," Coles says. "A book encourages you to touch it, to look through it. You don't do that with sculpture; you don't do that with paintings."
What are the biggest misconceptions about altered-book art?
"I think many are confused about 'book art' because it covers too broad a range of activity," says Sas Colby, who splits her time between Berkeley, California and Taos, where she spends summers and, each July, teaches an annual workship at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. "For many, it's an 'everyone can do it' kind of artform, yet there are hierarchies in the practice related to craft skills, book traditions, and artistic sophistication. If you are a painter and you paint a book, are you then a 'book artist'? I identify myself as a mixed-media artist who happens to make books from time to time, not as a 'book artist.'
Complex certainly describes Lynne Hendrick's work, which includes installation projects and sculptures that incorporate altered books. Of her creative process, Hendrick says "I look for conceptual content. I will brainstorm an idea without editing myself, and then refine the concepts through the details and choice of materials. Someone once asked [installation artist] Ann Hamilton what her process was, and I understood her answer completely. She said, 'I can't tell you what my process is, exactly, but I can tell you what I was thinking about when I made this work.'
"Coming from a painting background," Hendrick continues, "my aesthetic is for very luscious and sensual mediums. For this reason, I am very 'materials'-conscious, and this informs everything I do, be it installation, sculpture, drawing or painting. I see this as another overlap. Also, being conceptually driven, I use whatever medium or combination of mediums speak to the piece I am making."
Most books altered by artists come from sales of library discards, thrift shops, yard sales, etc. In other words, most of the books used have already had long lives, and the artists are saving them from the trash. "It's sort of repurposing," says Coles, who likely came to book art naturally: "As a child, it took me a really long time to learn how to read because I was so enamored with the letters and the shapes they created. B, A, D. Short lines and tall lines, Even if I couldn't read the letters, I enjoyed the shapes around the letters."
What does an artist look for in a book he or she might alter into another art form?
Says Colby, "I'm not so interested in the particulars of fine printing and binding, but rather what is the artistry of the book, and is it a pleasing physical object? How are the form and content unified? Has the artist used the medium for its full potential of layering, sequencing, hiding, and revealing? Does it all work together as a whole?"
Inspiration can come from the book's title. One of Campbell's' first altered-book creations was A Study of Islam, whose pages she folded to resemble a head. She then strung red and black beads on threads, and hung the strands across the head to suggest a veil.
"[With] another book, Patterns of Grace, I cut and folded the pages in a graceful pattern, but when my husband looked at it, he turned it sideways and said, 'I think this looks like a Hopi maiden,'" Campbell says. "So I wen with that idea, and that structure has become my signature piece. I have also used that design for making miniature Hope Maiden pieces, which continue to be a favorite of many collectors."
And yes, book artists also have their favorite books for, you know, actual reading. Hendrick's is The Anthropology of Turquoise: Mediations on Landscape, Art and Spirit, by Ellen Meloy (Pantheon, 2002). Campbell prefers memoirs. Colby's recent discoveries include Maira Kalman's The Principles of Uncertainty (Penquin, 2007) and Tom Reiss's The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life (Random House, 2006). Coles particularly enjoyed Larry River's What Did I do? The Unauthorized Autobiography (with Arnold Weinstein; HarperCollins, 1992).
"Books," Hendrick says, "are sacred.
BOUND TO BE DISCOVERED by Johnny D. Boggs
As a novelist and lover of books, I've always considered that a book is a thing to hold, touch, and feel, to admire, cherish, and enjoy - something to read and, perhaps, read again and again - and again. Even when I'm reading a book for research purposes, I consider the impact before I dog-ear a page, or underline or highlight a passage. So you'll be happy to know - at least, I was - that most artists who work in the medium of altered books also respect the artforms of writing and printing words, and carefully consider the consequences before tearing off a cover, or drawing on or ripping out pages.
"I am paying homage to books," says Santa Fe artist Lynne Hendrick, "but there are times when I am using them as the medium in a larger dialogue. It was a brave and somewhat traumatic and intimidating action to destroy so many books in the larger installations I did - ironically, with the intent to draw attention to their value and beauty."
"I don't think I could alter a Bible or Qur'an or any book that had spiritual or religious meaning to someone," says native New Mexican Joy M. Campbell, also a Santa Fe artist who works in altered books.
However, as Albuquerque artist and instructor Juliana Coles points out, altered books have always challenged artists and viewers. "I think artist like crossing that line and challenging people," she says, "and trying to make them uncomfortable. But for a lot of people, it's very scary to make that first mark in a book."
In the altering of books, a book's original structure is transformed into something new and completely different. Once considered an avant-garde category more craft than art, altered books have become a rich and widely accepted artform. "It's not a typcial art project," Coles says. "A book encourages you to touch it, to look through it. You don't do that with sculpture; you don't do that with paintings."
What are the biggest misconceptions about altered-book art?
"I think many are confused about 'book art' because it covers too broad a range of activity," says Sas Colby, who splits her time between Berkeley, California and Taos, where she spends summers and, each July, teaches an annual workship at the Mabel Dodge Luhan House. "For many, it's an 'everyone can do it' kind of artform, yet there are hierarchies in the practice related to craft skills, book traditions, and artistic sophistication. If you are a painter and you paint a book, are you then a 'book artist'? I identify myself as a mixed-media artist who happens to make books from time to time, not as a 'book artist.'
Complex certainly describes Lynne Hendrick's work, which includes installation projects and sculptures that incorporate altered books. Of her creative process, Hendrick says "I look for conceptual content. I will brainstorm an idea without editing myself, and then refine the concepts through the details and choice of materials. Someone once asked [installation artist] Ann Hamilton what her process was, and I understood her answer completely. She said, 'I can't tell you what my process is, exactly, but I can tell you what I was thinking about when I made this work.'
"Coming from a painting background," Hendrick continues, "my aesthetic is for very luscious and sensual mediums. For this reason, I am very 'materials'-conscious, and this informs everything I do, be it installation, sculpture, drawing or painting. I see this as another overlap. Also, being conceptually driven, I use whatever medium or combination of mediums speak to the piece I am making."
Most books altered by artists come from sales of library discards, thrift shops, yard sales, etc. In other words, most of the books used have already had long lives, and the artists are saving them from the trash. "It's sort of repurposing," says Coles, who likely came to book art naturally: "As a child, it took me a really long time to learn how to read because I was so enamored with the letters and the shapes they created. B, A, D. Short lines and tall lines, Even if I couldn't read the letters, I enjoyed the shapes around the letters."
What does an artist look for in a book he or she might alter into another art form?
Says Colby, "I'm not so interested in the particulars of fine printing and binding, but rather what is the artistry of the book, and is it a pleasing physical object? How are the form and content unified? Has the artist used the medium for its full potential of layering, sequencing, hiding, and revealing? Does it all work together as a whole?"
Inspiration can come from the book's title. One of Campbell's' first altered-book creations was A Study of Islam, whose pages she folded to resemble a head. She then strung red and black beads on threads, and hung the strands across the head to suggest a veil.
"[With] another book, Patterns of Grace, I cut and folded the pages in a graceful pattern, but when my husband looked at it, he turned it sideways and said, 'I think this looks like a Hopi maiden,'" Campbell says. "So I wen with that idea, and that structure has become my signature piece. I have also used that design for making miniature Hope Maiden pieces, which continue to be a favorite of many collectors."
And yes, book artists also have their favorite books for, you know, actual reading. Hendrick's is The Anthropology of Turquoise: Mediations on Landscape, Art and Spirit, by Ellen Meloy (Pantheon, 2002). Campbell prefers memoirs. Colby's recent discoveries include Maira Kalman's The Principles of Uncertainty (Penquin, 2007) and Tom Reiss's The Orientalist: Solving the Mystery of a Strange and Dangerous Life (Random House, 2006). Coles particularly enjoyed Larry River's What Did I do? The Unauthorized Autobiography (with Arnold Weinstein; HarperCollins, 1992).
"Books," Hendrick says, "are sacred.