Today was a session filled with insight -- by the means of looking at each others books!
It was really nice to see the varying selection of books we'd all had a go at making- from Abi's wood-covered small flip books, to Hannah Straw's A4 size fluff-covered pad!
First up though: my books!
Here is a sneak peak of the pamphlet-style book I made after last week's introduction to book making techniques. I used my newly acquired bone-fold to crisply fold my pages into 'signatures' (ooh yeah, I was listening to the technical terms!), and then laid them precisely and carefully together inside the cover, which I cut slightly bigger, with the aim of neatly containing the pages. As I didn't have access to a long-handled stapler to join my book together, I attached a heavy duty needle to my sewing machine, and sewed down the middle instead! I'm quite pleased with the results. And on a side-note to myself: I think I might make a few for family Christmas presents!
the front- with a little decoration (as usual!) to jazz things up
I managed to get quite a neat, even line of stitching on this I reckon -- result!
In the session, we each had 10 minutes to present our personal sketchbooks from current/previous project work in our course-specific areas. I took in my sketchbook from the last project of the summer term in 1st year. Funnily enough, I realised that in effect, I 'made' my own books for all my projects last year, even though I didn't really think of it that way at the time. I also realised that I tend to work in staggered way, using my sketchbooks for more certain, concrete ideas that I want to show to others/my tutor as my work progresses. I don't tend to work in a very rough way in my sketchbooks, just incase others get confused/misunderstand when they are looking at my work to try and understand my concepts. For research and planning stages, I tend to work on loose sheets that then get put in a file, or get chopped up and put into my sketchbook in a more organised way. This is the first time I've been properly aware that I don't just do my sketchbooks with myself in mind- I am normally always considering how what I do will help others understand my ideas, too, to some extent.
The cover of my last project sketchbook- a print out of one of my print designs, stuck onto the outside of the inner pages.
A 'perfect bind'- I didn't know that's what it was called at the time when I did it...but I do now!
I included photos at the very start to contextulise the work that followed work- this project was an installation, and I was aiming to make it for the local bus stop
initial drawings/doodles, that I constructed into 3d paper flower models
I never realised before how interactive my books can end up! Here everyone in my group that I was showing the book to thought it was fun/funny to have parts that pulled out/extended- like a book within a book. I think my work can be quite narrative- I like to show the different processes as little stories to follow that slot in place within the bigger narrative of the progression of the project.
rougher pages that showed how my pint designs developed- included more in terms of assessment, for my tutor to see how I arrived at my print collection outcome.
my pages towards the end of my sketchbook work seem to get less busy/neater in line with my ideas being finalised and realised. This is also an interesting observation about using sketchbooks- there seems to be a natural ebb and flow within the energy of it's structure, with any parts that show development being quite full and varied, yet the initial outline and final ending are much more paired down.
So I found this week very interesting in terms of a deeper, conscious self-realisation of the way I myself work. In part two of this post, I'll upload my pictures/realisations that came from looking at others work this week!
