Anywhere is a single page book that, once opened, produces an instant green screen, capable of transporting the reader anywhere. Using the Turkish map fold, it is a one of a kind book, and portable.
Transparency
The almost-nothingness of transparent backgrounds was the starting point for this work. Those grey and white chequered backgrounds that show transparency on graphics files, that are often left unnoticed, intrigued me. I wanted to make something with these overlooked backgrounds.
I like that transparent backgrounds describe a see-though plane by using an opaque pattern. And that they do so in virtual space. I wanted to transform this pattern by making it a material object that would occupy a physical space. I wanted it to unfold the way a map does, something that describes a territory.
Transparency is a map fold book to be held up to see the world beyond it.
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Transparency is part of a project made with members of the art collective Art Byte Critique. Responding to the theme Futuristic Illusion, this book belongs to a collaborative project with books by Arthur Huang, Patty Hudak, Yuko Kamei, Nick West, and Carlee Wolcott. It was first shared at Bristol Artist’s Book Event 2024.
Transparency is part of the collection of artists’ books at the UWE (University of West England).
Mixed Signals
A limited edition of 25 Risograph prints. Printed on A3 paper (140gsm), this work cuts and splices signal flags together to produce a glitchy, abstract pattern. A message may hide therein.
Blog: Book Forms
What started as a list snowballed into this; a series of twenty images that illustrate established book forms. Not that this is exhaustive. There are no audio books listed. Nor does it include the grisly practice of anthropodermic bibliopegy - the act of binding books with human skin. Shudder. It does, however, include the clay tablet, the bamboo roll, the scroll, the codex, the codex rotundus, French doors, the fortune teller, the concertina, the map fold, the Turkish map fold, loose leaf, dwarsligger, the flip book, the hand book, the pop-up book, the miniature book, kamishibai, the paperback, the ebook, and the artist’s book. Good reading.
In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were drawn on a wet clay tablet with a stylus made of reed, and then left to bake in the sun. Collections of clay documents made up the first archives, the root of the first libraries.
↑ Clay tablet
Long before the widespread introduction of paper in China, bamboo canes were split and strung together to form the main media for writing documents. Bamboo books utilised an abundant natural resource to produce portable writing surfaces.
↑ Bamboo book
The Codex Rotundus (late 1500s) is a unique example of medieval book culture given its distinctive circular shape. Written in Latin and French, this manuscript is 266 pages long and measures about 9cm in diameter.
↑ Codex Rotundus
A fortune teller (also called a cootie catcher, chatterbox, whirlybird, or paku-paku) is a form of origami used in children's games. By choosing from several options on its exterior panels, the player is led to a hidden outcome.
↑ Fortune teller
The Turkish Map Fold is a unique and sculptural book form made from a single piece of paper, with an optional cover. As you open the book, the piece of paper unfolds so you can see the entire sheet.
↑ Turkish map fold
Dwarsligger (meaning crossbeam in Dutch) is a book printed with text parallel to the spine of a conventional book. This binding method permits the book to remain open without restraint so it can be read with one hand.
↑ Dwarsligger
A flip book, flicker book, or kineograph is a booklet with a series of images that very gradually change from one page to the next, so that when the pages are viewed in quick succession, the images simulate motion.
↑ Flip book
Kamishibai (which translates as paper play) is a form of storytelling that was popular during the 1930s and 1940s in Japan. Kamishibai are performed by narrators who travelled with sets of illustrated boards that they placed in a miniature stage-like device and narrated the story by changing each image.
↑ Kamishibai
Based on the graphic artist Antonio Ladrillo’s book Colors (2020) this illustration of an artist’s book allows the reader to explore endless combinations of reading, in both two- and three- dimensions.
↑ An artist’s book
Tinder
Tinder is a book made from matches and glue. It is the first object in the Books From Things series. The matches were bought from several ¥100 stores in Tokyo. Physically, Tinder is now cinder; it no longer exists.
Tinder was shown at the Launch Pad Gallery, Yokohama and at various Art Book Fairs.
Asemic Writing
Asemic Writing is a wordless form of writing. The word asemic means "having no specific semantic content". I made these by applying ink on paper. I started by designing strokes. I then arranged them on a page, repeating them at intervals that felt right.
The top image shows a work that sold at Launchpad Gallery, Yokohama.
Folded Hands
Folded Hands is a book made from work gloves and thread. Part of the Books From Things series, these gloves were sourced from a local DIY shop and then sewn together. I like that this book reflects the gesture a reader makes when a book lays open before them, and the way they fold together.
Folded Hands was shown at Vancouver Art Book Fair and Tokyo Art Book Fair.
A-Z²
A-Z² is a series of 26 hand-sewn circular books. Each book consists of blank pages cut in the shape of a letter of the alphabet. I have always been attracted to the abstract nature of written language and typography. When I began this work, I wanted to make type concrete, somehow. I was also drawn to the paper’s blankness having so much potential. It’s pregnant with possibility. As I began working with bookbinding techniques, I realised I could expand this potential by making them circular books, obscuring the letter forms in the process.
This work was shown at ONCA in Brighton and as part of the Royal College of Art’s RCA Secret Exhibition.
Subway Origami
Subway Origami combines the subway lines on the Tokyo Metro map with the folds in origami paper. I created it soon after moving to Tokyo, having been in awe at how collapsable space is in the city.
This painting was exhibited at Tacchi Studios, Shibuya and Clouds, Koenji in Tokyo.
Detailed images follow:
Full Circle
Full Circle is a book made from vinyl, wood, and glue. As part of the Books From Things series this is an attempt to make a non-linear book.
Full Circle has been shown at various art book fairs.
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… is a book made from dice and glue, and is part of the Books From Things series. I liked the idea of assembling a book from existing objects. My initial choice of dice was based on the pattern that the dots make, suggesting a code or language.
… was shown at Bristol Art Book Event 2022 and was sold to Bookartbookshop.
