Book Arts Collection in Texas

January 21, 2018

As I travel, my on-going goal is to promote my artists' books. After a few emails to book arts collections in Texas, I scheduled two appointments.

My first rendez-vous was with Shā Towers, Curator of the Book Arts Collection, Art Liaison Librarian, and Associate Director of the Central Libraries at Baylor University. Since 2007, the artists’ book collection of The Crouch Fine Arts Library has grown to over 800 works representing many artists and presses. The collection functions as a teaching collection for both studio artists working in the medium and various disciplines outside the arts. The collection includes a wide-ranging representation of everything from single-page constructions, complex forms, sculptural book-works, fine press, letterpress, photography, handmade papers, textiles, collaborative works, and more.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, the Jesse H Jones Library, one of the central libraries at Baylor University in Waco, Texas

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, the Jesse H Jones Library entrance to a very friendly staff

I arrived in Waco, had a pleasant visit and exchange on the Library collection with Shā. Following my artists' books presentation, I left re-energized. It’s nice to talk with someone who has an understanding, interest and creates artists' books.

I'm thrilled to say my artists’ books: Conversation, Decades Apart, Traverse, the Texas and New Mexico volumes of City Shields, are now part of the Crouch Fine Arts Library.

© 2006 Louise Levergneux, City Shields, New Mexico volume

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, door in downtown Waco, Texas

My second consultation was with Rebecca Pad, Humanities Liaison Librarian for the Fine Arts Library at the University of Texas.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Oak trees around the Doty Fine Arts Building

Examples of Artists' Books can be found in Libraries and Art Collections across the University campus. The artists' books in these collections contain illustrations by artists, livres d'artistes, multiple-copied and inexpensive produced booklets, limited-edition, and handcrafted books.

Rebecca Pad, three other colleagues and I sat and reviewed my books. I took pleasure in seeing my ideas and concepts experienced with amusement. I’m fond of bringing a smile to the reader, part of my artistic statement and philosophy behind my work.

At the end of our session, the Fine Arts Library acquired Ambivalence, a flip book from the Outside of the Studio series entitled Earth.20 and my last published book Shadow Me.

© 2012 Louise Levergneux, Earth.20 from the Outside the Studio Series

Shadow Me is a documentary that exemplifies solitary moments after the loss of unconditional love of a devoted companion. Rebecca was touched by this book, I’m glad it's now part of the collection.

In the past, I wasn’t keen on talking about my work, but Texans have a way of welcoming you, what can I say Y'all made me feel at home!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, The Harry Ransom Center

Austin, Texas

January 8, 2018

I visited the Harry Ransom Center at The University of Texas in Austin, twice during my séjour. The structure captivated my attention from the outside in with its two inside plazas etched in glass with images of the collections.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, The Harry Ransom Center, Picasso's Eyes, David Douglas Duncan, 1957; silhouette of Oliver Twist, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould, 1890s; Rooster device, Golden Cockerel Press, ca 1923; Horse in Motion, Eadweard Myubridge, ca 1… — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, The Harry Ransom Center, Picasso's Eyes, David Douglas Duncan, 1957; silhouette of Oliver Twist, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould, 1890s; Rooster device, Golden Cockerel Press, ca 1923; Horse in Motion, Eadweard Myubridge, ca 1886

Front facade, first and second floors of the Center were re-designed and completed in 2003 under the direction of the San Antonio architects Lake/Flato. Abundant Texas light reflects architecturally the two-fold vision of the Ransom Center.

The mission of the Center encourages discovery, inspires creativity, and advances understanding of the humanities for a broad and diverse audience through the preservation and sharing of its extraordinary collections.

Enjoy an insider's glimpse into the Ransom Center. This 10-minute video provides a broad overview of collections, scholarship, conservation, exhibitions, and programs. Curators, students, members, and conservators discuss their work and how the Center shares and celebrates the creative process.

I received a wonderful Texan welcome by Olivia Primanis, Senior Conservator for the Ransom Center. Olivia was approachable and a gentle soul.

Olivia directed me to visit the artists’ books repository part of the Art Collection. To get access to the artists’ books one can open a research “Aeon" account then go to the reading room and page your chosen artists’ books for an original research or specialized study.

The Harry Ransom Website Collections page

© 2017 Olivia Primanis, a sample of the Book Arts database with thumbnail images online

It was a pleasure to do a “show and tell” session by sharing my process and books with Olivia and her co-workers; Ellen Cunningham, Associate Director for Preservation and Conservation, Dana Kull, a volunteer, Kimberly Kwan an intern for the paper lab, and Mary Baughman from the Austin Book Arts Center who also joined us.

After a wonderful hour, Olivia invited me to join her for French lunch. Olivia and other colleagues meet every Tuesday for lunch and speak only French for an hour. I did not realize I would speak French in Austin!

Cela était chouette d'être demandée !

Merci, Olivia pour une visite fantastique ! À la prochaine.

San Marcos, Texas

December 31, 2017

Sometimes, you find yourself in the right place at the right time. When I visited the Austin Book Arts Center a few weeks back, I did not know what wonderful opportunities would be presented to me. Some doors are worth opening!

I had the good fortune of meeting Craig Jensen a fine master craftsman. Craig produces custom designed housings and fine limited edition bindings. He executes bindings for some of the best-known libraries and private presses in the world.

It was an inspiring mid-day visit at Craig’s home and studio, BookLab II in San Marcos, Texas.

On arrival, a friendly four-legged muse—whose mission is to greet people—welcomed us with a smile. Most studios have a muse, a force who is the source of positive feelings in our space.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Craig Jensen's muse playing the "are they leaving so soon look"

Craig was generous with his time and shared his work stories and process in a natural open show and tell session. In front of his library filled with bindings and casing he has created, I was like a child in a candy store.

What would you like to see? Craig asked.

I thought any book will do, there was so much to choose from. Craig picked the first one, this book was the one Craig called the most technically difficult piece he had ever bound. Gaylord Schanilec's Lac des Pleurs, a study of the 22-mile length of the upper Mississippi River known as Lake Pepin, near Schanilec’s home in Stockholm, Wisconsin.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Craig Jensen talking about the process of binding Lac des Pleurs

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Lac des Pleurs with full map open

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Lac des Pleurs — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, Lac des Pleurs

On the many shelves of bindings a box covered in black Italian Canapetta lined with red rowlux caught my attention. Booklab II teamed up with Moving Parts Press to create the book DOC/UNDOC part of a grandiose collaboration between Guillermo Gómez-Peña and book artist Felicia Rice who created a work that stimulates all the senses.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, a page of DOC/UNDOC

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, next, Craig displayed James Siena's book entitled Sequence One.

After a couple of hours, we went out for a healthy meal and lots of conversation.

Craig’s career began in 1977 when he was appointed Library Conservator for the Harold B. Lee Library at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. In, 1977-78 Craig interned at The Library of Congress Restoration Office under the keen direction of Peter Waters and Don Etherington to eventually become a bench conservator and bookbinder at The Library of Congress. In 1981, Don Etherington recruited Craig to serve as the Head of Book Conservation at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Conservation Department at the University of Texas in Austin.

In 1984, Craig established the Jensen Bindery, for book conservation and box making, then focused on limited edition binding. Craig worked for Acme Bookbinding as Vice President of Imaging for a number of years then returned to the concept of a small book bindery, reestablishing a workshop, BookLab II, in 2003. After spending some time exchanging ideas and opinions with Craig, you can understand why he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from The Guild of Book Workers in 2011.

Here Craig is featured in the Oxford American: SoLost video series filmed by photographer and videographer Dave Anderson.

Craig Jensen demonstrates rounding and backing, techniques used in hand bookbinding with Olivia Primanis at the Conservation Department book lab of the Ransom Center, University of Texas, in 2009.

Guess who I met immediately afterwards—next week!

Tu dois juste ouvrir ton esprit à la rencontre de nouvelles expériences !

Rochester, New York

November 14, 2017

I finally crossed the border back into the US on October 17th. I was hoping to be down south before it froze. It was getting colder every day, and the rain never seemed to stop.

On October 18th, in Rochester, New York, the sun was shining and it was a gorgeous day. According to the locals, the temperature was out of season. One of my goals in traveling is to meet with new collection contacts or renew old ones. I love to visit artist's studios, it's fantastic but I also need to distribute my own artists’ books. This is my usual six month of administration duties.

On the road, I emailed contacts of different libraries for a possible visit. I received a quick response from the Rush Rhees Library at the University of Rochester.

© 2017 Google Maps, Rush Rhees Library, Rochester University

© 2015 Al Herms, Google Maps, Rush Rhees Library, Rochester University

I met with Stephanie Frontz, Head of the Art & Music Library and Art Librarian. The Art and Music Library is home to various collections including over 300 artists’ books. On short notice and to my surprise, Stephanie agreed to meet with me outside on Wilson Blvd for an artist’s book tailgate event!

"With this kind of weather everyone wants to be outside, it will not last long,"—Stephanie replied.

Through our conversation, Stephanie showed me her sense of humour by presenting me with a “League of Librarians” trading card-style business card for the University of Rochester reference and liaison librarians.

This project helps students resolve concerns regarding choosing and finding materials. What a fantastic idea! Gamification is the way of the future!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, I now possess this trading card. Will it grow in value as the years go by? HaHa! Do you have one? Which one? — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, I now possess this trading card. Will it grow in value as the years go by? HaHa! Do you have one? Which one?

After an interesting show and tell, the Art and Music Library acquired five of my artists’ books. Thank you Stephanie!

© 2012 Louise Levergneux, Earth.11 from the series Outside the Studio

Ontario

October 30, 2017

My holiday back home has come to an end. It's difficult to say goodbye but time to leave and find a more temperate climate for the winter. Our small trailer is not four seasons and not suited for the coldest season of the year in Ottawa.

Before leaving Canada, I wanted to pay a visit to Marlene MacCallum’s studio in the south-west part of Ontario.

Marlene and her husband, David Morrish prepared a wonderful meal before taking the time to show us their studio still being built by David. After we visited the different rooms that comprise the full working area in their new home, Marlene brought some of her wonderful artists’ books for me to view and handle. What a privilege!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, the room where Marlene binds her books

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Marlene and David share this room where all the digital and printing is done, the red cover protects a really big printer, NICE!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, press room is in the works

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, David showing drawers of many typesets while Marlene talks about her artists' book "Nine Elevated Views". You can view this book on my post dated May 21st.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, one of the press studios

Marlene uses photogravure, a historical photo/intaglio process that dates from 1879. Marlene’s chosen media plays a large role both in the way it translates the subject and in the effect of the presentation.

The interaction of ink and paper with its tactile and physical presence bring to mind a state of photographic memory which can be felt in Marlene’s books and subjects.

The visual interpretation of personal domestic space and the ordinary stuff of daily life has been the consistent pursuit of my practice. I am fascinated by our relationship with the spaces that frame and objects that fill the majority of daily lives, and yet, are overlooked as we move through our daily routines in a state of inattentional blindness.

I begin by making photographic records. A visual occurrence that startles me out of my routine relationship with objects and spaces prompts the image choice. The gathering of images results in a visual archive of the ephemeral moments linked by a sense of the uncanny or a spatial déjà vu. Drawing on this source, I then build suites of prints or artist’s books that offer the viewer a sense of the strangely familiar.

The artist’s book affords me the opportunity to integrate a variety of printing methodologies and sequential structures in a form that provides the viewer with intimate interaction with the work.

© 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, (text by Matthew Hollett), hand-bound accordion artists' book with folded paper cover and wrapper, images printed in photogravure and lithography, text printed in letterpress — © 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, (text by Matthew Hollett), hand-bound accordion artists' book with folded paper cover and wrapper, images printed in photogravure and lithography, text printed in letterpress

© 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, view of the third-page spread, 19.5 x 13.1 x 1.5 cm (closed dimension), 19 x 25.4 cm (page spread) — © 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, view of the third-page spread, 19.5 x 13.1 x 1.5 cm (closed dimension), 19 x 25.4 cm (page spread)

© 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, view of the ninth page spread — © 2016 M. MacCallum, Tea Ceremonies, view of the ninth page spread

Tea Ceremonies is a collaboration with Newfoundland artist and writer, Matthew Hollett. The piece began with Matthew’s text and I created an image response and designed the book layout and structure.

This work celebrates everyday rituals and small ceremonies. The piece explores repetition and sequence in its use of layered text paralleling the way everyday activities leave residue. Text, photogravure images and lithographic tea stains interact in counterpoint throughout the sequence of the book. residue. Text, photogravure images and lithographic tea stains interact in counterpoint throughout the sequence of the book.

© 2014  M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, (text by Jessica Grant), hand-bound accordion book work, view of installation at The Unfolding Narrative at the Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, Ontario — © 2014 M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, (text by Jessica Grant), hand-bound accordion book work, view of installation at The Unfolding Narrative at the Parrott Art Gallery in Belleville, Ontario

© 2014  M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, dust jacket, inkjet on Digital Aya paper, view of title page, 26 x 20 x 1.2 cm (closed dimension) — © 2014 M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, dust jacket, inkjet on Digital Aya paper, view of title page, 26 x 20 x 1.2 cm (closed dimension)

© 2014  M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, view of second-page spread, 25.6 x 39.3 cm — © 2014 M. MacCallum, Wall Stories, view of second-page spread, 25.6 x 39.3 cm

Wall Stories is a collaboration with Newfoundland writer Jessica Grant. This piece brings a different perspective to my examination of everyday spaces. Jessica’s text, The Great Indoors, and my Townsite home images interact to create a celebration of interior life with special attention to the collection of objects and the adornment of surfaces. Elements of the external world are miniaturized and nested within living spaces inverting the inside out logic of homes. The first iteration of this collaboration was published by the Journal of Artists’ Books as part of the artists’ project Switching Places.

© 2013  M. MacCallum, Corner a handbound accordion book with slipcase, the structure is held closed into a codex form by sewing across the spine into the end pages. 26.1 x 13.2 x 2.4 cm (closed dimension) — © 2013 M. MacCallum, Corner a handbound accordion book with slipcase, the structure is held closed into a codex form by sewing across the spine into the end pages. 26.1 x 13.2 x 2.4 cm (closed dimension)

© 2013  M. MacCallum, Corner, front and back end pages slip into the cover pockets, the book block is printed in photogravure on Somerset paper and the cover is inkjet on coated Tyvek — © 2013 M. MacCallum, Corner, front and back end pages slip into the cover pockets, the book block is printed in photogravure on Somerset paper and the cover is inkjet on coated Tyvek

© 2013  M. MacCallum, Corner — © 2013 M. MacCallum, Corner

© 2012   M. MacCallum, Theme and Permutation, hand sewn pamphlet, images custom-printed in offset lithography on Mohawk Superfine, text printed in inkjet, covers are inkjets printed on translucent Glama, 23.5 x 21.6 x .6 cm (clos… — © 2012 M. MacCallum, Theme and Permutation, hand sewn pamphlet, images custom-printed in offset lithography on Mohawk Superfine, text printed in inkjet, covers are inkjets printed on translucent Glama, 23.5 x 21.6 x .6 cm (closed dimension)

© 2012   M. MacCallum, Theme and Permutation — © 2012 M. MacCallum, Theme and Permutation

Theme and Permutation is one of a series of artist’s books inspired by the experience of living in Corner Brook’s Townsite area on the west coast of the island of Newfoundland.

Between 1924-34 the pulp mill built 150 homes to house the mill management and skilled or to highly renovated. This project gave me the rare opportunity to record the evolution of interior aspects of these homes. It has been the context to explore the paradoxical phenomena of conformity and individualization that occurs in a company town. Having grown up in a suburban housing development, my earliest memories of home is that of living in a space that is reminiscent of my neighbors’. Each artist’s book explores a distinct facet of image memory, multiplicity, sequence and offers the viewer a visual equivalence of the uncanny.

Theme and Permutation is a response to the permutations and variations of the type-4 Townsite House. Digital tools were used to translate the original film source of eight different window images from five houses. The sixteen offset lithographic plates were custom printed in twenty-nine separate press runs. Each image is the result of a different combination of plates. The structure is a sewn pamphlet with translucent covers. The viewer enters the body of the book with a tritone image of a single Townsite window. As one moves into the piece, new window images appear and layer over each other. The images become darker and more heavily layered towards the mid-point. The center spread has an inkjet layer of two text blocks printed over the offset litho images. The text speaks of the history of the homes, the architectural permutations and economic shifts within the Townsite area. The ensuing pages continue to provide new combinations of window layers, gradually lightening in tonality and allowing the individual windows to become more distinct. A third text block provides a personal narrative. The piece concludes with a tritone image of one of the Townsite windows in original condition.

I don’t have time or space to create these days being on the road, but this time in my life is wonderful, I enjoy meeting and reading first-hand amazing works by artists’ bookmakers around the country.

I will be in Austin, Texas for most of the month of November. If you know about my new my journey and would like to introduce me to your work.

Let me know, I would love to visit your studio !

Québec, seconde partie

October 22, 2017

The stores on Park Ave in Montréal were filled with amazing fruits and vegetables. The vegetables made me hungry for Greek food and my next studio visit.

It’s always nice to be back home to hear French and even nicer to speak the language as I share thoughts on art with another artist. I got the chance to visit with artist bookmaker Guylaine Couture in Montréal.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, a wonderful huge Calder-esque red mobile welcomes you as you walk in Guylaine's atelier. The sculpture added a smile to my face.

This small, fresh, and comfortable space is where Guylaine creates her art form (forme artistique). The media of artists’ book allows her to create works in which both contents and form (le contenu et le contenant) merge a powerful message (message percutant). For Guylaine, the «reader» has to live an experience.

Pour moi, le «lecteur» doit vivre une expérience.”

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Guylaine sitting in her studio

The artist drafts the message, analyzes the meaning of words and images, and develops (élabore avec minutie) the final form of the book with accuracy through re-using printed documents. Guylaine also uses the preservation of the forgotten zone of a photo and the recycling of material having already lived. Her works attempt to show the potential of this plentiful material too easily discarded.

Mes œuvres tentent de détourner cette abondante matière trop facilement larguée.

Touched by the reaction to Donald Trump's election last March, 2017, Guylaine created Want to be heard. This book began in the form of a tunnel book but at the end, the book needed a more open structure. This book can be seen from both sides.

© 2017 Guylaine Couture, Want to be Heard

Guylaine’s book New dress against disease/Nouvelles robes contre la maladie makes the link between cancer in women and the humanities: art therapy, philosophy, economics, technology...

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, New dress against disease/Nouvelles robes contre la maladie

© 2016 Guylaine Couture, New dress against disease/Nouvelles robes contre la maladie

It was wonderfufl to be able to handle her beautiful book entitled Alonely as Guylaine explained the process and the story behind the book. The title is a play on the word seul/alone and isolé/lonely.

© 2011 Guylaine Couture, Guylaine flipping the pages of her book Alonely — © 2011 Guylaine Couture, Guylaine flipping the pages of her book Alonely

The text in her book Alonely is from Guylaine’s own diary. She wanted to draw a parallel between the serene movement of jellyfishes and other living beings in the depths of the ocean and her difficulties living a period of solitude.

I did a lot of research and drawings of the ocean and of what lives in it. After a few months of experimentation, I developed a more personal way of doing monotypes.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Guylaine is another artist who writes detailed packing information for her delicate books when shipping them to galleries

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, I was intrigued by these tiny little houses in Guylaine's atelier, they were templates for her artists' book Everyone Needs a Home — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, I was intrigued by these tiny little houses in Guylaine's atelier, they were templates for her artists' book Everyone Needs a Home

© 2017 Guylaine Couture, Everyone Needs a Home created for the exhibition "Built" at 23 Sandy Gallery — © 2017 Guylaine Couture, Everyone Needs a Home created for the exhibition "Built" at 23 Sandy Gallery

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Guylaine Couture with her press talking of the possibility of working together next year

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, outside Guylaine's studio

Merci Guylaine pour la belle visite !

Pennsylvania

September 30, 2017

Traveling across several states to my hometown of Ottawa/Gatineau, Canada, is a destination trip, not a vacation. A jaunt to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, encompassed a desire to see the history of the area and a long overdue sojourn.

I’m entertained by the day-to-day events, I appreciate simple moments characterizing our lives. My artists’ books represent subjects in a unique, creative, and dynamic way for the reader to experience. Life is serious and I enjoy seeing readers re-acquaint themselves with mundane activities that link us together.

The history still lingers in Gettysburg, with fields and fields of monuments and leftover atmosphere of the days of the American Civil War, (as the southerners would call it, “The War of Northern Aggression”).

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Gettysburg National Military Park, Gettysburg, PA

That being said, artists show many facets of life in their work, which include war.

Dorothy Krause presents the more serious side of life in her artists’ book WarZone: a traveling board game with no winner. WarZone is designed to be played anywhere other than in your own country. Instructions, game board, spinner board and game pieces are housed in a clear plastic suitcase.

© 2017 Dorothy Krause, The WarZone printed at Roland DGA on a LEF-300 in an edition of 10; the book measures 10 3/8” x 12 7/8” x 1 ½”

On the top of the suitcase, an image of the first atomic bomb blast is overlaid with a definition of war as “armed conflict, prosecuted with military forces aiming to enforce the political will of the victor upon the defeated”. It also contains information about human aggression from prehistory to the present and questions whether war is noble or morally problematic and destructive of lives and property.

The Spinner Board, printed onto stiff board and contour cut to fit into in the bottom of the suitcase, allows you to choose the country in which to play and gives information on ongoing conflicts around the world.

The countries shown on the map in black and around the outer edge of the circle have ongoing military conflicts that result in over 1,000 violent deaths per year, including both military and civilians. Other conflicts are shown in red on the map. You can turn the spinner to select a country in which to participate or choose from the list of additional war zones.

The Rules of Engagement state you can place your soldier on any square of the game board and move randomly any number of spaces in any direction. You need not take turns and can remove the soldiers of any other player at will unless you are removed first. If you are on a square with information and instructions, do as you are told.

The Game Board resembles a checkerboard which gives instructions such as “no weapons found: look again”, “tour of duty extended: start over” and “peace negotiations began: pray for success”. Red and black checker-like pieces are “us” and “them”.

The game never ends, but may move to a different place of engagement. There are no winners, only losers.

Maria G Pisano from Memory Press created Vita Defuncta in response to the poem Patterns by Amy Lowell. The poem was first published in 1916 in the collection Men, Women and Ghosts.

© 2005 Maria G Pisano, Vita Defuncta is housed in a publisher’s slipcase, with an open wound at its center, which becomes the symbolic black casket for the book within.

© 2005 Maria G Pisano, Vita Defuncta, letterpress printed with type Bauer Bodoni at LaNana Creek Press by Charles D Jones and Terri L Goggans at Stephen F Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX

© 2005 Maria G Pisano, Vita Defuncta a limited edition of 25 is printed on Arches MBM Ingres, Fabriano Elle Erre, and Japan Yatsuo, the book measures 11” H x 13” W open

The poem contrasts loss in war with nature. Nature is a constant, as it follows the cycle of the seasons through planting, growth, decay, and renewal. Even in the dead of winter, there is promise of life.

War has also become a recurring cycle. Unlike nature, which brings change and growth through the seasons, war brings only death. As a result of the death of a loved one, the protagonist remains emotionally static and sterile, presenting a façade to the outer world, where she exists only as a fragile ornament.

In my response, language and symbolic representations are intertwined with the images, encompassing both the masculine and feminine aspects of the poem. The diamond and rectangle respond to each other and as the pages progress the symbols separate, culminating in the red masculine symbol transforming to a bloodstain at the end of the book. Once opened, one views a perfectly manicured pattern of a white flower-like form, holding the pages. The colors, the papers’ texture, tactility, the structure, are all used to reflect and are in service of the theme.

Elena Mary Siff’s sculptural works and text pieces derive from her background of assemblage art where she has an established reputation.

© 2017 Elena Mary Siff, War No More — © 2017 Elena Mary Siff, **War No More**

I have been collecting stamps to use in my books for a very long time and when I realized I had enough vintage stamps to create an anti-war book I created War No More. In this political climate, it seems imperative to speak out against aggression and hostility and my tiny book is a response.

Elena constantly explores and expands the artistic paradigms of the book as object using visual space, volume, movement, and colour. Her source material for her unique books is often of a social and political nature and is influenced by her favourite poets and philosophers.

Lucy Childs talks about healing in her artists’ book How a Bandage Works. Lucy’s book shows the progress of healing over time.

© 2016 Marty Kelly Photography, Berkeley, CA martykelly.com, How a Bandage Works a textile (linen, cotton, silk, and rayon) accordion book

© 2016 Marty Kelly Photography, 4 by 31/2 by 1 inch, How a Bandage Works opens to 4" x 27"

You can imagine the bandage wrapped around a bleeding wound: a big red patch growing smaller and browner with each layer away from the cut. Imagery sewn over and around each blood patch symbolizes the healing taking place.

Merike van Zanten visited Normandy in June 2009 for the 65th anniversary of D-Day.

Merike’s artists’ book A Soldier of the Second World War tries to express the almost absurd contrast between the realities and horrors of the Invasion of Normandy in 1944 and the serenity, peace, and beauty of the Allied Cemeteries 65 years later. Dried flowers from Normandy, combined with photographs of Allied graves, correspondence to loved ones back home and portrait photographs taken before the soldiers went to war convey just that conflict.

© 2009 Merike van Zanten, A Soldier of the Second World War — © 2009 Merike van Zanten, **A Soldier of the Second World War**

While visiting the "recently" dug-out bunkers at Grandcamp Maisy, I was struck by the opposite of that current day and the same day in 1944.

2009 had beautiful weather, very quiet, wildflowers everywhere. In 1944, the weather wasn't so good, it must have been deafening with all the shooting and bombing going on, and certainly, the wildflowers would've been trampled by soldiers' boots. And if not, would the soldiers have noticed them?

I had similar thoughts when visiting an allied cemetery a couple of days later. Really quiet, flowers everywhere, immaculately groomed graves and headstones. You could think the soldiers finally had their peace and quiet, but at the same time, it seemed so unreal and contradictory.

After Reasonable Research, Years with No Acts of ‘Open and Declared Hostile Conflict’ Are Indicated with a Perpendicular Line. Perhaps They Were Periods of Peace by Miranda Maher is an astounding document of the absence of peace in our time. The book lists all open and declared armed hostile conflicts that have taken place between the year 1 and the year 2007.

© 2009 Miranda Maher, After Reasonable Research — © 2009 Miranda Maher, **After Reasonable Research**

© 2009 Miranda Maher, After Reasonable Research, the third edition comes in a plastic slipcase and includes a printed statement by the artist — © 2009 Miranda Maher, **After Reasonable Research,** the third edition comes in a plastic slipcase and includes a printed statement by the artist

Printed with a tiny font and arrayed in two seemingly endless columns, these conflicts fill mind-boggling twenty-two pages. The book is bound in an accordion structure with decorative paper, an uncomfortable reminder that the refinements of civilization are inseparably bound up with brutality.

What are your interpretations of war and armed conflict?

Have you represented these subjects in your artists’ books, writing, art...?

Virginia

September 21, 2017

Manassas, Virginia, was our next stop. The landscape is forever changing from the desert of the West to unbearable humidity in the East. I am reminded of the effects of the weather back home as we get closer to my hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, and Gatineau, Québec.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Prince-William Campground, Manassas, VA — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, Prince-William Campground, Manassas, VA

No time to visit studios, but my internet searches lead me to talented artists’ bookmakers. I was interested in books that reflected the way each of us sees our surrounding landscape. The book Landscape within a book published by Louisa Boyd left an impression.

© 2001 Louisa Boyd, Landscape within a book, handbound artists' book, formed by tearing; the imagery was added with watercolour paint and pencils — © 2001 Louisa Boyd, Landscape within a book, handbound artists' book, formed by tearing; the imagery was added with watercolour paint and pencils

© 2001 Louisa Boyd, Landscape within a book, folded with a landscape image painted onto it in watercolour — © 2001 Louisa Boyd, Landscape within a book, folded with a landscape image painted onto it in watercolour

These artists’ books were developed after a series of personal experiences and events that led me to feel at a distance from nature, periods of my life where I lived in cities and found it difficult to experience quiet, serenity, and events such as the foot and mouth epidemic (2001) in the UK that led to large areas of the countryside being temporarily inaccessible.

It was during these periods of time I started to recognise how important the natural environment was to me and longed to immerse myself in it and portray it through my work, consequently, the themes of restriction and freedom consistently reoccur in this series of works. In this, there is also a wider message of societal detachment from nature.

Working with books sculpturally allowed me to represent these concepts in this instance. Pages were used restrictively to only give glimpses of information contained within them due to cut work, how they are bound and exhibited. Images are broken by the pages and disjointed.

Many of my books are not meant to be opened with pages turned, they are meant to be viewed only as a three-dimensional form. This series of works use this format more so than any of my later pieces. The books are bound on tapes of paper with linen thread using a multiple signature binding. They have no covers.

How do you see your landscape?

How do you portray your surroundings?

How do you view where you live?

Let me know, I would love to hear.

Welcome Bienvenue

Hello, my name is Louise Levergneux, I’m a book maker. This blog is where I share and reflect on the approaches and structures used in my creative process, artists' books, photography. and more...

Your comments and stories are welcome.

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