I have been working on a new piece this week. In fact, nine new, similar, but not quite identical, pieces.
I covered nine 6.35 cm (2.5 in) wooden blocks with three different Japanese papers purchased from The Paper Place in Toronto. It’s almost exactly a year since I prepped the blocks by sealing them with several coats of starch paste/PVA mix.
Planning ahead can make things easier in the long run.
Tonight’s flick combines two of my loves: books and maps. The video is from the British Library Learning series on Vimeo.
You might spend a few minutes this weekend admiring some pop-up and movable books —another of my interests— in their collection. There’s lots more to explore from the British Library here.
I began this week by finishing the folding of all the outer locking panels.
The image above shows the set of panels for Memory Bank V.
Another binder/conservator is featured in this week’s Friday Night Flick: Judith Ivry.
Although there is no information provided on Ms. Ivry on the Vimeo page for the video, I did some internet sleuthing and dug up her website. Her website shows examples of box-making, edition binding, restoration/conservation work and more, and is definitely worth checking out this weekend.
I spent the week folding paper and assembling the five cubes for the work tentatively named Memory Bank. The cubes will be displayed as a group, but also work individually.
This week’s flick is a return to more bookish content: a short interview with Jeff Peachey, book binder and conservator, filmed by New Tang Dynasty Television.
You can watch a second video of Jeff this weekend, showing him at work. The filming was done for a commercial and Peachey says of it:
I think it looks great, and even though the details are wrong, the total impression is very appealing and accurate.
You could also check out Jeff’s blog posts here or drool over his beautiful handmade tools in his on-line shop.
If you have been following this blog for a while you may recall that I spent several weeks early in 2019 backing paper for use in works for my September 2020(?) exhibition Square Dance at the Saskatchewan Craft Council Gallery in Saskatoon. Some of the paper I backed was map pages from an English road map guide.
This week’s paper engineer, Matt Shlian, produces more abstract forms than Benja Harney who was featured last week. From the text on Vimeo:
Matthew Shlian works within the increasingly nebulous space between art and engineering. As a paper engineer, Shlian’s work is rooted in print media, book arts, and commercial design, though he frequently finds himself collaborating with a cadre of scientists and researchers who are just now recognizing the practical connections between paper folding and folding at microscopic and nanoscopic scales.
You could spend a few minutes this weekend checking out Shlian’s website, or his Instagram account.
I had thought I might be finished my piece for #areyoubookenough_machine by today. I am close, but not quite there.
Monday saw the beginning of a volvelle for the end of the square tube opposite the iris.
Tonight’s flick from the Australian Design Centre features Benja Harney. From the text on Vimeo:
Benja Harney is a self-taught paper engineer, working professionally for six years. His work spans from pop-up books for the likes of Kylie Minogue to window installations for brands such as Hermès, from advertising work for Sydney’s New Mardi Gras and Parklife to packaging for Smirnoff Black. Harney created an installation called The Paper Attic for Object Gallery’s Project Space through August and September of 2011.
You could spend some time this weekend checking out more of Harney’s projects in detail on his website.
