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Inspired By: Student/Artist/Book/Work

book work poster

For the past two years, the College has offered a new class, “The Book Arts Studio Seminar,” taught by Alex Halasz, Amy Borezo, and Lynne Avadenka. In the class, students learn the art of the book by working with type, polymer plates, and printing presses to create their own broadsheets and books. To learn about how artists have used the book as a medium and to study how different books function, they make frequent use of the collections in Rauner Library and in Sherman Library. This exhibit showcases the work of four students from this Fall’s course: Eve Ahearn, Gitae Lee, Cristina Pellegrini, and Lily Ringler. Each student’s final project is paired with a book from Rauner Library’s collection that served as inspiration.

The exhibition was curated by Eve Ahearn, Gitae Lee, Cristina Pellegrini, and Lily Ringler and was on display in the Class of 1965 Galleries from February 1 to February 28, 2011.

You may download a small, 8x10 version of the poster: InspiredBy.jpg (2 MB).

Materials Included in the Exhibition

Case 1. Alphabet Book Projects, Spring 2009-Fall 2010

The first books the class produced were group projects based on the alphabet. The assignment demanded a close consideration of book structures, typography, and the relationship of the physical format to the purpose of the book. These alphabet books represent student work from two different terms: Spring 2009 and Fall 2010.

 

Case 2. Cristina Pellegrini

Root Change is a contemplative piece about how people interact with their surrounding environments and find a sense of grounding or rootedness within a cycle of constant, seasonal change. Somewhat similar to how books of hours, devotional books from the Middle Ages, were arranged, this book is organized around the concept of time according to twelve frames that correspond to a year's time span. Images were produced by pressure printing various collected objects and plant materials, including ferns, hay, and wild blackberries. The double-framed accordion structure includes two magnetic ends that can be attached to create a circular shape, thus completing the cycle. Using multiple colors and shades of light and dark appropriate for the given point in time was inspired by The Cycle of the Day: a Book of Housrs by The Press at Colorado College.

  1. Cristina Pellegrini. Root Change. Hanover: Book Arts Workshop, 2010.
  2. The Cycle of the Day: A Book of Hours. Colorado Springs: The Press at Colorado College, 1991.

 

Case 3. Lily Ringler

Reality Demands was inspired by a trip through Poland and Ukraine in June 2009. The trip was organized by the Colleg, and focused on sites pertaining to the Holocaust. This book explores the relationship between the events of the Holocaust, those who visit the sites, and those who continue to live near these sites of mass murder. I used the postcard form because I have always been intrigued by this idealized form of travel narrative.

Photographs I took on the trip were digitally printed on cardstock. I used pressure printing to create a textured look on the back of the cards, then printed the postcard frame and my personal, handwritten reactions to the trip using photopolymer plates. The final piece of the puzzle was printing four of Wislawa Szymborska's poems onto vellum and adhering them to the backs of the cards. These words physically placed over my words represent the was that personal experience was obscured by national narrative.

  1. Lily Ringler. Reality Demands. Hanover: Book Arts Workshop, 2010.
  2. Johanna Drucker. Cuba; Torre LEtras y Musica. Charlottesville: JAB Books, 2006.

 

Case 3. Eve Ahearn

I found the fact that Dartmouth is getting rid of blitz at exactly the same term as I could have had to stop using the program to be an inspirational coincidence. By that I mean I'm an '11 and blitz is being phased out for students starting in the spring. I also am obsessed with blitz, but not more than I think is normal. I used mylar to make the cover, hand-drawn designs made into photopolymer plates for the blitz windows and a Vandercook press to print all of the text that's not my handwriting.

  1. Eve Ahearn. Bye Bye Blitz. Hanover: Book Arts Workshop, 2010.
  2. Janet Zweig. This Book Is Extremely Receptive. Janet Zweig, 1989.

 

Case 4. Gitae Lee

This concertina contains six passages taken from a creative piece I recently wrote. The passages are self-reflective and a motif on the things we could change if given the chance.

I was inspired by Requiem for My Sister by Deb Rindl. Her work is tributary book that pays homage to her sister who had passed, and an examination into the relationship they once shared. I was drawn to this piece as it is a unique attempt to illustrate subject matter and text, revealing a message through RIndl's wonderful use of various paper formats.

This bookwork was created using Bulmer typeface, and printed on the Pearl letterpress. The intricate hand-made rag paper was a gift from someone special at the Dartmouth College Book Arts Studio.

  1. Gitae Lee. My Life Is All I Own. Hanover: Book Arts Workshop, 2010.
  2. Deb Rindl. Requiem for My Sister. England: D. Rindl, 1997.