Jessica Peterson, a book artist from Gordo, Alabama, just completed an artist-in-residency in the hand papermaking studio. She pulled over 400 18” x 24” sheets of paper for her upcoming letterpress book. She spoke on Monday night about her work and her residency at BookWorks. We hope to have her back for a workshop in the coming months. A thanks to the BookWorks Co-op for supporting her residency.

Drawings and dummy for the "Memory Ark"

BookWorks Co-op chose the theme, Memory Palaces, as a focus for the 2010 Small Book Exchange. The box in which the books will be kept and displayed is a physical construction of a “Memory Ark.” Each of the 15 miniature books in this year’s edition will treat the subject of memory in a unique way. Among examples of memory related topics the artists are exploring are: memory and the body, the senses and memory, loss of memory, troublesome memories, a dog’s memory, memory mapping and construction of memory.

Gwen Diehn is heading up this year’s project. She’s holding regular meetings for participants to give and get feedback on book ideas, book structures and editioning techniques. Gwen is also designing and building the “Memory Arks” to house full editions for raffle and for sale.

Edible Book Festival was held on April Fool’s Day, the perfect day to “eat our words.” The team of judges this year were Harry McDaniel, public artist and sculptor; Jodi Rhoden, owner of Short Street Cakes; and Sebastian Matthews, poet and writer. It was a great evening of celebration highlighting everything culinary, literary, visual and musical. Visitors had a chance to vote for their favorite Edible Book entries. After viewing, the entries were heartily consumed and enjoyed by all!

BookWorks would like to thank the nearly 100 visitors who donated generously to the Tuition Scholarship fund.

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Philip Bell, graphic designer, and Amy Jacobs, papermaker, partnered on a piece for the Hand Papermaking Society 2010 Portfolio, Paper in Motion. It was an enormous project completed with many hours of assistance from BookWorks interns and volunteers, as well as a mountain of fibers, X-acto blades and a few well earned blisters to make an edition of 152 pop-ups!

Philip Bell created a pop-up mask design called Cardinal / Shaman using Amy Jacob’s handmade paper. The design was submitted last year and selected by the judges (including Robert Sabuda) to be included in this year’s annual portfolio. The mask is a unique design that rotates 180 degrees from Cardinal to Shaman or the ‘Spirit of the Bird.” The paper is cotton fiber using pigments, surface design techniques and walnut dye.

[View with PicLens]

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A Bird in the Head is Worth Two in the Hand, Margaret Couch Cogswell

Jessica White, BookWorks Gallery Coordinator, created the inaugural exhibit in the new gallery space, a BookWorks Instructors’ Invitational entitled, “Hands Prompt the Mind.” “This show celebrates all of the tactile, sensory, physical and intellectual growth that takes place here at BookWorks. It includes instructors of the past and present, as well as those just now getting involved with upcoming classes and workshops. These works exemplify them as artists in their respective fields and how their hands have prompted their (and our) minds.” Jessica White, Gallery Coordinator.

“The title of this show is a phrase that I heard often from one of my mentors, Gary Frost, as we worked side by side at the University of Iowa’s Library Conservation Department. He was referring to the idea that ‘the evolution and use of the hands shaped the brain, language and human culture’ and ‘how the development of the brain follows this other development.’ This was a concept developed by Frank R. Wilson in his book, The Hand, where he describes in detail how ‘this circumstance engendered a learning pathway based on discovery by manipulation and tactile observation. This perceptive channel of primate dexterity then prompted the mind toward conceptual thought.’ In other words, we don’t just develop physically and haptically from learning with our hands, but we grow intellectually as well.” Jessica White, 2010