Book Arts and Bookbinding

I noticed on The Rejectionist that this past weekend was the NY Art Book Fair. I love books as art.* I know this may seem like a clash with what I wrote yesterday, extolling the virtues of eBooks, but I don't think the love of books as objects and books as reading materials are necessarily linked.

One of my earliest exposures to books as art was through the amazing bookbinder and artist Barbara Mauriello** and the The Center for Book Arts.

The Center for Book Arts is committed to exploring and cultivating contemporary aesthetic interpretations of the book as an art object while invigorating traditional artistic practices of the art of the book. The Center seeks to facilitate communication between the book arts community and the larger spheres of contemporary art and literature through exhibitions, classes, public programming, literary presentations, opportunities for artists and writers, publications, and collecting. Founded in 1974, it was the first organization of its kind in the nation.

One year, due to bad weather or some scheduling mishap, my family was among the few people who went to the Center's yearly open house. That year, instead of just watching the artists work on books and make paper, my sister and I got to try it out for ourselves. It was a fantastic experience. I think my mom still has some of the beautiful marble paper and prints we made. I know the Center offers classes, so if you are interested in book art and in the NY area, I suggest you check them out.

*So much so that I should really go back though all my posts and create a tag for this subject, so as to not bog up my generic Books tag.

** Who is, in full disclosure, a good friend of my family.

All images courtesy of the Center for Book Arts.

Interesting Links

My links today are sort of all over the place, but are more about architecture than books.

Via Shelf Awareness: Near the Library, D’Espresso’s Bookish Coffee Bar.

Via (sort of surprisingly) Go Fug Yourself:
10 music videos set in libraries and bookstores.

Via archinect: Should you build your own home? Loved this! FYI, home in this context, refers to your website, not to an actual house.

At the NY Times, AT HOME WITH PATRICK DOUGHERTY: Building With Sticks and Stones. I've written about the artist previously.

Links

Some random links of interest, of various kinds:

Via Shelf Awareness, Bookshelf Porn. I like Read More Books than Blogs (on a blog, of course). Which one is your favorite?

Here's probably the heaviest coffee table/book storage ever built, at dornob.

Courtesy of a thread off Librarything, one of the most amazing bookstores I've seen: Librería El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires.

I love these pieces from Depot Visuals - though imagine how much cooler they'd be if they were real.

This is what I imagine it would look like if Hobbits built a shed: The Composting Shed at Inverleith Terrace by Groves-Raines Architects.

For Laura: photos of Venice's cemetery, which is not, of course, in Venice.

Sorry for the lack of images. I am lazy/busy today.

Friday Update

Every Friday, I update my library and share what new books I bought or received during the past week.

By the time I hit post on this, I am sure it won't be Friday anymore. Oh, well. I had a busy day. And I'm going to have an even busier weekend.

Between gifts and shopping, we got several new books since I last posted an update. I think I'll just talk about a few today.


First, I won Angels: A Pop-Up Book by Chuck Fischer from Bermuda Onion! She had a really interesting interview with the paper engineer Bruce Foster that I enjoyed. It was really cool to actually get a copy and get to see the results of his hard work. Thank you to Bermuda Onion and Bruce Foster!


For Christmas, from my boss, I got NorCalMod: Icons of Northern California Modernism by Pierluigi Serraino. It is gorgeous. And I always like know more about the architecture in the area I live.

The last book I'll mention I got today will answer the question (posed earlier) of where we spent Christmas: Hawai'i!


Hawaii's Birds by the Hawaiian Audubon Society: I'm not a birder, but I thought this was a concise, well-illustrated guide to all the different birds I saw on our trip.

The trip, by the way, was amazing. We spent a week on the Big Island. I got to go snorkeling, coffee tasting, see the volcano, and lava hitting the ocean. So cool! It was my first time and I am ready to go back again.

Friday Update

Every Friday, I update my library and share what new books I bought or received during the past week.

Last weekend, I went shopping at the SF Museum of Modern Art store. I was tempted by many beautiful books on art and architecture (including, as I mentioned yesterday, one on Patrick Dougherty) but I ended up buying just one, by an artist I have enjoyed for a long time: Abelardo Morell (previous).


This retrospective, entitled simply Abelardo Morell, is a great overview of the photographer's career. I'm so glad I bought it.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend, filled with beautiful things.

Artist Patrick Dougherty

I almost bought a book last weekend because it had some work by artist Patrick Dougherty in it.* Dougherty does these amazing organic sculptures that border on some sort of natural architecture. They're amazing. He first came to my attention because of his installation at the San Francisco Civic Center Plaza.



For a really nice sampling of his work, check out this article at dornob. I think I might have to buy his catalog for myself, just so I can own a little piece of his work.

*But not enough, so I passed. What did I buy instead? You'll just have to wait until Friday to find out.

A Maybe Wishlist Book: The Sartorialist

Do you read the The Sartorialist blog? I do, and I really enjoy it. Scott Schuman - aka, The Sartorialist - has just published his first book of man-on-the-street fashion photographs - also called The Sartorialist - and I am very tempted to get it. I read a critical review on Amazon, though, that said that all of the book's content is from the blog. That makes me much less likely to buy the book, to be honest. Then again, looking at a photo on screen is a lot different than looking at a book.

Book Links

Presented without comment, here are some interesting links about book covers/art for your amusement:

Lookalike book covers: Give 'em the boot!

More books as art (or ads)

Via Pimp My Novel, Cover Trend: Book as Art Object at Galley Cat.

Friday Update

Thank goodness for Voice Recognition Software. As I've mentioned before, I'm having a lot of problems typing, so I wrote most of my posts - including my reviews of The Thirteenth Tale and Painting the Invisible Man - last weekend using the software. Its not a perfect system, but its a good way for me to get a rough draft in the computer without so much typing. Yay!

I can't believe it but no new books for me this week. I will be sure to make up for that this weekend. I did make a big run to the library, though. It was not to get any reading for pleasure, but to get some architecture books for inspiration for a project in the office. Among the highlights was Signature Architects of the San Francisco Bay Area by Dave Weinstein (Author) and Linda Svendsen (Photographer). Its a really lovely book with descriptive text and tour ideas in addition to the photos.


In other news, happy birthday, Mary Cassatt! I'm fond of Cassatt's work, as this post makes pretty clear.

For those of you in the US, happy Memorial Day! Enjoy your weekend, everybody!

Art & Architecture Links

If you need a little inspiration today when you are trying to design something, I present the National Design Awards from the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. From graphic design to architecture to product design, there is a whole range of beautiful, well-designed work to get your creative batteries charged. Just the color and movement in this image from Rodarte is enough to make me smile.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, check out this New York Times feature on the production design for the fourth Terminator movie. There are some pretty interesting images in it. Unsurprisingly, I like the city and building images (like this one of a post-apocalyptic Griffith Observatory) better than the machines.

I'd be interested if any of you can identify the medium designer Martin Laing is using for his paintings. Some of them look like photo-composites to me. [via Archinect]

Here's some very cool book art, from photographer Thomas Allen. He carefully cuts up old book covers to create dioramas and photographs them (and sometimes using what looks like tilt-shift photography). Check out images at his gallery and here. [From Boing Boing via Omnivoracious]

How to Design

I was recently introduced to a blog by book cover designer Henry Sene Yee. At the top of the page is this little nugget, which I wanted to share with you all:

HOW DO YOU DESIGN A BOOK COVER?

First you start with a blank page, stare and think really hard, drink lots of coffee, take lots of breaks, fix the copier jam, update your Facebook page, get over the fears that this project is the one that will finally expose you as the hack that you are, and then just trust to do what you feel is right from what you've read, present your ideas to find out how they live outside of your head, listen to feedback, try to leave work at a decent hour, have a life, floss, get enough sleep, have a good breakfast and come back the next day to redo it all over again. It's that simple and fun. And if it isn't, then get another blank page and start all over again.

That description applies to just about all design, I think, not just book cover design.

The designs on the site are very nice, too - I recommend you check it out.

Gordon Matta-Clark

As I mentioned before, one of my favorite artists is Gordon Matta-Clark, who passed away in 1978. Matta-Clark started out intending to become an architect but never ended up practicing. Instead, he called his work "Anarchitecture" and explored buildings/built space by taking them apart, analyzing, literally cutting buildings up to reveal something new. Its a kind of de-construction* and it is very powerful work.



The photograph above is of Splitting, from 1974. Like much of his work, the piece is site specific, known to the public mostly in photographs. He is sometimes referred to as a photographer, but his work is so spatial, I think of his mostly as a sculptor. Rather than creating through addition, though, he works primarily through subtraction.


One of my favorite pieces of Matta-Clark's, and one of the few that I have been able to see in person (part of, at least), is Bingo (above). In it, Matta-Clark divided the facade of a house into a nine-square grid**. After cutting the facade, Matta-Clark exhibited the grid squares. At the time, the nine-square grid, developed by architect John Hejduk, was a bit of an obsession in some architectural circles and was a common assignment for architecture students. Many years later, I was assigned the nine-square grid problem so when found Matta-Clark's interpretation, I literally laughed out loud and fell in love a little bit.

There's so much more to explore in his work, and since smarter people than I have written about Matta-Clark, I encourage you to poke around on the links I've included here to find out more. The first photo here is from Tate Papers, where there are many more images and interesting thoughts from an exhibit the Tate did a few years ago.


*Not to be confused with deconstructivism, the architectural style practiced by Peter Eisenman, Bernard Tschumi, etc.
**A nine-square grid looks like a tic-tac-toe grid, just a 3x3 box. All the good images of what I mean are copyrighted, so look here real quick so you know what I mean.

Art & Architecture Links

This is becoming a thing for me now, it seems.


From WebUrbanist, 15 Immaculate Temples, Cathedrals and Churches. I don't get what they mean by immaculate, though. Oh, and if you're wondering why Darth Vader is up there, he's a gargoyle at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. I'd love to go one of their gargoyle tours someday.

Here's interview from Arch Daily I found interesting: Building on Canvas: Sarah McKenzie and the New American Landscape.


As the article says:

In recent years, the art world has played host to a number of lively explorations of architecture and the built environment. (In 2006, The New Yorker went so far as to snipe, “Painting about architecture has become popular to the point of excess, much the way seventies artists went overboard on the cube.”) By looking at architecture through the lenses of politics, psychology, humor, and more, artists have been helping to enrich the conversation about the field.

I'll have to write a future post about one of my favorite artists who explored architecture, Gordon Matta-Clark.

Here are two interesting headlines via Archinect:

The amazing crayon art of Christian Faur [Telegraph]

Frank Gehry considers an accomplished past and uncertain future [LA Times]

Recent Paintings

At my mother's request, here are some recent paintings I've done. The first is an urban landscape. Bonus points to any fellow-Californians who can guess where it is.



This is an abstract piece I just completed.



These are pretty lo-res photos. I think the colors are much better in person.

Shadow of the House

I had a comment today on my post about Abelardo Morell that I thought I would bring to eveyone's attention.

If you are interested in Abelardo Morell's work check out the documentary Shadow of the House - Photographer Abelardo Morell

Working alone for over 7 years, director Allie Humenuk filmed Morell and his family both at home and abroad. The film beautifully captures the artist and the artistic process. The film is having a successful run in festivals and at museums nationwide.

There are screenings coming up at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (Dec 5th, 6pm) and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (Dec 11th, 4:30pm) Both Humenuk and Morell will be in attendance.

For more information on the film visit: http://www.shadowofthehouse.com/

I watched the trailer on the website and it looks pretty interesting. I'm on the West Coast but if any of you have the opportunity to go to one of the screenings, please let me know what you think.

2008's Best Covers

The Best Book Covers of 2008 (via Bookslut). And don't forget to vote on which one you like.

Flying Books

Via Curbed SF, a new book-themed public sculpture was unveiled in San Francisco this weekend. Entitled "Language of the Birds," it looks pretty cool. The light-filled birds are actually books and the ground below has words in English, Italian and Chinese etched into the concrete. Photo above from SF Gate. Check out their article for more cool pics.

Books as Art

There is an amazing display of various artworks made out of books at Dark Roasted Blend. Blogger isn't letting me load any photos right now (annoying) so I can't show you the awesomeness, but I highly recommend you check it out.

Thank you to She Reads Books and Worducopia for the heads up.

See my previous posts on art about books here and here.

Lydia

I've been working on a painting based on a pastel by the American Impressionist, Mary Cassatt, shown below. Its entitled Lydia at the Theatre, or sometimes Lydia Leaning on Her Arms, Seated in Loge. Cassatt frequently used her sister Lydia as a model.

Here's my interpretation, as an oil painting instead of a pastel drawing.

Now, of course, I'll have to read Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper by Harriet Scott Chessman. I've heard such great things about it. Here's a review from fellow blogger Bermudaonion. And here is the description from Publishers Weekly via Amazon:

Elegantly conceived and tenderly written, this cameo of a novel ushers readers into a small, warmly lit corner of art history. Inspired by five Mary Cassatt paintings of Cassatt's older sister, Lydia, Chessman paints her own intimate portrait of the admirable Lydia, chronicling Lydia's thoughts and feelings as she models for Mary in Paris in the late 1870s and early 1880s. All the while, Lydia is conscious that she is dying of Bright's disease, and her thoughtful contemplation of her life and dashed hopes give shape to the tale.

Doesn't that sound good?

Abelardo Morell

As I said in an earlier post, I like art about books. So maybe it not surprising that one of my favorite artists is Abelardo Morell. He is an amazing photographer. The work above is Naked Maja by Goya, 1994.

Morell also did an incredible Alice's Adventures in Wonderland series, illustrating an edition of Lewis Carroll's book. I will let Peter Galassi, Chief Curator of Photography at the Museum of Modern Art, explain for me why they are so great:

For his illustrations, Abelardo Morell had the brilliant idea of making the book itself a character in the story. His photographs, at once eerie and full of wit, are beautifully realized.

In addition to his photographs of and about books, he also does wonderful work using a camera obscura. Here is a recent piece titled Camera Obscura: View of Central Park Looking North-Summer, 2008.