Innovations in Book Design

Found on the second floor of the Wallace Memorial Library “Imagination Unleashed” is a must-see display of special and inspiring artists' books from the Cary Graphic Arts Collection. A sample of what can be found there includes:

“(Poem by) Jerome Rothernberg – A Mertz Sonata” by Debra Weir (Rosendale, NY/Emanon Press and Women’s Studio Workshop, 1985)

Handmade paper pulp parchment and mixed and print media accents comprise this book featuring a poem about Dada Artist Kurt Schwitters written by American Poet Jerome Rothernberg. It is accepted with marker and pen strokes, ink-stamped numerals and pop-up elements that run along the gutter of the book itself.

Typeface Futura (told to be Schwitters’ favorite) is combined with gothic insert typeface. Emerging from the gutter is a segment of coated wire fashioned to resemble a flag. Representative of expressionist post modernism, the page edges are left frayed and untrimmed. Weir created the book while in summer residence at the Women’s Studio Workshop. It includes ticket stubs, color etchings and illustrations.

Only 50 copies were published in tribute to the Dada art movement that occurred during World War I. The movement made use of poetry, art theory, literature and visual arts. Politics and culture were a common theme, as Dada sought to protest against the bourgeois nationalist and colonialist interests they thought were responsible for the war.

Dadaism reflects an era when artists banded together to speak out against the atrocities of war and the aspects of culture and intellectualism they saw as being flawed. What makes this book unique is the artist's representation of such an influential aspect of creative, collective thought. Weir’s piece is a must-see for individuals who take an interest in artist’s books and abstract concepts.

“Cuff: Steeped Thoughts” by Allison Cooke Brown (Yarmouth, Maine: Self-Published, 2007)

Using teabags as a medium, Brown reflects on the issues related to being a woman and as well as an artist.

The bags are strung onto silver wire, which is then attached to a clasp. The assemblage is designed for wearing around the neck with the artist having written journal entries on the teabags themselves. The suggestion is that the medium can undoubtedly be the message, as Brown incorporates various aspects of her most personal thoughts and reflections into her work. This book is not only experimental; it’s also wearable.

While this is only a small sampling of books on display in the Wallace Memorial Library, there are many more to mention which range from traditional modes of published works to more abstracted forms. All inevitably force the viewer to re-evaluate what constitutes a book, a piece of art or in this case a functional art object.

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr

Photo credit: Robert Carr