Upcoming show in Pittsboro! Opening reception on Sunday, April 6th

I Ching #64: 'Unfinished'

After an unusually wintry winter here in North Carolina, today the air had a distinct smell of green to it. Not the green beer of St. Patrick's Day (although there may still be a whiff of that around), and not yet the visible yellow-green tinge of pine pollen in the air. Just the first, barely noticeable taste of Spring. And the much more noticeable increase in temperature to 70 degrees.

With Spring this year has come an exciting opportunity. My work and Lisa Gilbert's work will be featured in a wonderful little gallery in downtown Pittsboro called Liquidambar. Here are details:

• Where: Liquidambar Gallery and Gifts, 80 Hillsboro St., Pittsboro, NC
• When: The opening reception will be part of Pittsboro's First Sunday celebration on Sunday, April 6th, from 2-4 p.m. 
• When else: The show will be up for a nice, long, two-month run from Sunday, April 6th through Sunday, May 25th.
• When else else: There will be another reception on the First Sunday in May, too.  Sunday, May 4th, from 2-4 p.m.

I'll be showing a mix of work--old and new, artists' books and handmade blank books of different kinds. Depending on space constraints, the giant Book of Mister Miracles may make another appearance, along with his smaller cousin Doctor Mister Miracles's Guide to Miracle-Making: A Manual (Abridged).

2 copies from the 5-copy original edition of Doctor Mister Miracles's Guide
 to Miracle-Making: A Manual (Abridged)

I've also just had a larger edition of DMM'sGtM-M:AM(A) printed, which I'll be picking up from the printshop tomorrow. It consists of scans of my favorite version of each page from the original edition compiled into a new version and digitally printed. It's my first foray into publishing a larger edition (100 copies) that's neither print-on-demand nor an open-ended edition of handmade copies, and I'm excited to see how it goes.

There will be copies of Surf Book #3 at Liquidambar, too, as well as copies of I Ching #64: 'Unfinished.'

I Ching #64: 'Unfinished', open

There's other new work in the works, but it's not quite ready to be photographed yet. A scroll inspired by the flooding Haw River, painted using water from the river itself; and a new book in the I Ching series: I Ching #3: 'Difficulty.'  

I'll see if we can't post some photos of the newer work before the show opens, but if we don't, I hope you'll come out to Liquidambar and be surprised.

Mr. Miracles begins...

When you haven't heard from me in a while, you can assume I've been busy in the studio...

The past couple of weekends have been big for the Mister Miracles giant book project! (Click here for a reminder of what the project's all about and to see what the empty giant book looks like...)  Last weekend Rio did a 24-hour-long drawing blitz to create panels for it, and this weekend I've been putting together the large panels for the front of the book.

Have to get back in the studio to continue working on it, but here are some teaser photos of the first panel, which will be the book's title page!

Surf Book #3 (Get Barrelled): Cover #4

The original image for this cover was pretty perfect just as it was, torn out of an issue of Surfer magazine. But I couldn't just steal it without altering it somehow. Okay, sure I could--it's all blatant appropriation, anyway. So rather than try to 'improve' on the image or expand upon the story it tells, why not give credit where credit is due with these portraits of the tools of the appropriation trade...

Front cover:

Back cover:

And the full, open spread:

Surf Book #3 (Get Barrelled): Cover #5

Things are getting weird in Surf Book country. On cover #5, Octopus dreams himself a surfer who dreams he's on a much gnarlier wave than he really is... or something like that.

Front cover:

Back cover:

And the full, open spread:

Surf Book #3 (Get Barrelled): Cover #18

Following on the wizard theme from the previous post's cover, here's another guy who lent himself to that treatment. He works his magic to transform the back cover of this simple, saddle-stitched pamphlet into a reverse flaming traditional half-binding.

Front cover:

Back cover:

And the full, open spread:

Surf Book #3 (Get Barrelled): cover #12

Another day, another unique cover for one of the copies of the latest edition, Surf book #3 (Get barrelled).  Cover #12 features a demoniacally talented surf wizard...

Front cover:

Back cover:

And the full spread:

Surf book #3 (Get barrelled): cover #14

As I mentioned yesterday I'm working on unique covers for all 20 copies of the latest edition, Surf book #3 (Get barrelled).  Here are some views of the cover for copy #14.

Front cover:

 

Back cover:

And the full spread (pardon the glare from the scanner...):

Surf Book #3 (Get barrelled)

A month of opportunities. In July I took a class with Maureen Cummins, who was teaching at ArtSpace in Raleigh. And last week I was at California Rare Book School taking a course on artists' books with Johanna Drucker. Either opportunity would've been enough to provide material to chew on for a year at least--to have them back-to-back as they were was overwhelming in the best of possible ways.

Maureen's class met four times, each Tuesday evening of July. The idea was that each student would create a small edition of an artist's book from conception to finish over the course of the month. I decided to continue a series I started with last year's Surf book #1/#2. Instead of a one-of-a-kind book this time, I produced 20 copies of an 18-page visual poem made up of collaged photos from surf magazines. It's called, creatively enough, Surf book #3 (Get barrelled). No text--just images I created by tearing photos out of surf magazines using a piece of packing tape.

Once I'd created and scanned the collages, I had the pages printed from PDF at Kinko's on a color laser printer/copier. Here's what the original cover looked like:

A title strip copied from the internal collage, glued onto the cover paper provided in class. Compared to the cut-up collages inside the book, which sample from the best and worst of surfing's visual culture, it was staid and out of character.

So now all the copies have been disbound and I'm creating new covers for them--a unique cover for each copy of the book. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be showing you the new covers, which I'm creating by altering pages torn straight out of surf magazines. A little graffiti, a little palimpsest, a little found poetry. Let me know what you think.

Here's today's cover, which graces copy #8 of 20. Front cover: 

Back cover:

 

 

And seen as a spread:

 

And here's a bit of found poetry I dug out of the advertisement on the back cover:

What is the future

What is the future

? 

What is the future

?

we believe it is choice. The introduction of new 

shapes and tools means more choice

fish, 

pintail, swallowtail, 

sandwich, 

fiber, etc. All of these shapes, materials and technologies are relevant

Not all 

are created equal and neither are all

constantly testing

to give you the best

It is our job to not only supply our

products, but also

to make the right choice. Consumers deserve 

materials and

affect

we are making the commitment to

get

you.  As the customer, you deserve

This

The (Blank) Book of Mr. Miracles

We're starting to get some ideas about what Mr. Miracles will do to change the world. For example, it has been suggested that he creates The Infinite Ham Sandwich which he then donates to a food bank; that he enables people to select produce that is always of the perfect ripeness; and that he will be responsible for something called The Miracle of the Unmurdered Children.

Before you start to feel giddy with a sense that we have enough material, though, let me assure you that we're going to need more. Because, this...

...is the book we need to fill. Oh, and this:

The Book of Mister Miracles is going to fill this hinged, room-dividing screen, which is six feet tall and six feet wide (when fully opened).

The front of the book (seen in the top photo), consists of four large, blank panels that will be filled with one continuous piece illustrating Mr. Miracles' interventions in the world. Think "Hieronymus Bosch meets Looney Tunes." The back of the screen is divided into small, comic-book-like panels:

It will feature episodes from Mr. Miracles' adventures in comic format. If you're counting, there are 336 panels on the back.

So yes, continue to send us your stories and ideas! They don't have to be detailed or fleshed out--part of the fun of it for us will be filling the gaps in what you tell us. And we will keep sharing what we get from you.

Feel free to send us your input any way you like--in the comments below, by contacting me or Rio directly, or by emailing us jointly at mistermiraclesproject@gmail.com.

Thanks!

Mr. Miracles prompts

As you help us to get the ball rolling on what Mr. Miracles can do in the future, it would probably be helpful to know a little bit about what he's done in the past.

I've made several books and collages about Mr. Miracles (originally known as Miracle Man) over the past 15 years or so. They've been ephemeral little things like booklets of altered postcards and drawings on white styrofoam cups. Mr. Miracles' first act was to stomp on a city, Godzilla-style, but that was in his moody adolescence. He has matured, reformed, and dedicated himself to doing good in the world (although he still has his mischievous side...)

I don't have many images of Mr. Miracles' past acts to share with you because they were mostly given away to friends, but below is a collage showing the beginning of one of his frequent explorations of the afterlife. He's the guy on the bottom left in the walrus mask--he looks a little different than usual because he's in disguise.

So keep all of this in mind as you help us to brainstorm about Mr. Miracles' life and times.

See the original blog post for more ideas. Please send us your input either in the comments, or by emailing us at mistermiraclesproject at gmail dot com.

Thanks for the ideas so far, we look forward to hearing more from you, and will share more soon!

Help us with our next project: Mr. Miracles

We've got many projects a-brewin' here at Blue Bluer Books, and there's one in particular that we need your help with.

I'm working with Rio Aubry Taylor of Light Riot to create a large-scale, one-of-a-kind artist's book for a group show in December. We're soliciting your help in developing the content for it.

The book will feature a character named Mr. Miracles, who is capable of whatever you tell us he is capable of. We will gather your stories into a crowd-sourced mythology or hagiography, recounting how the life and adventures of Mr. Miracles changes the world as we know it.

So tell us...

• What can Mr. Miracles do? 
• Who are his friends, supporters, and antagonists? 
• What are the titles of some of his most famous adventures, achievements, or parables? 

You don't have to go into great detail--we'll work from what you give us. Most importantly, tell us, if a little egg-shaped man with stick-figure arms and legs and a funny hat were to waltz into the world with the power to change it, what would change look like?

You can drop us your ideas in the comments below, or by emailing us at mistermiraclesproject at gmail dot com.

An angular blank book + Surf Book #1

The studio projects I'm working on continue to be pretty varied. Above is a blank book I was commissioned to make for a co-worker at the library.  The signatures are cut at progressive angles to create the effect.  I made some books in this shape about 10 years ago -- one of my first adventures away from standard book forms -- and it was a pleasure to re-visit it.  This one is 6" x 6" (if it were square), and about 3/4" thick -- a very satisfying, chunky little guy.

Here are two more looks:

* * * * * *

I'm also continuing to make progress on a new one-of-a-kind artist's book that I'm calling Surf Book #1, for lack of a better title so far.

On a recent trip to Topsail Beach, NC, I was reminded of how much I love the smells of surfing -- not just the ocean and salt air smells, but wet neoprene and sunscreen and surf wax.  More importantly, it was an example of just how powerfully smells can evoke our memories.  One whiff and I was a teenager again on surfari with my brother -- sense-memories that are especially powerful now that he's been gone for almost 20 years.

When Margarite and I got back home to Pittsboro, I started making this book out of an old wetsuit, writing the text with surf wax and magic marker.  Below you can see the first page (I don't want to give away too much yet!) and the spine, which includes the original zipper from the wetsuit.  Still a ways to go, but it's shaping up: 

 

 

Odds and Ends

Long absence from the blogosphere, but a lot of action in the studio in recent months.  First, though, check this out!  I've had aloe plants in one form or another for years and years and never seen one bloom.  This guy caught us by surprise, and has been blooming like this for about a week now...

In studio news, I've been working lately on an exciting, semi-clandestine project.  I've been working with a friend's photography company to develop a new line of photo albums.  It's been an interesting experience -- developing prototype books that will be "mass"-produced (still handmade, but on a larger production scale than I can pull off on my own) -- rather than the one-of-a-kind or very small editions I normally do.  One day soon I'll share photos of what we came up with, but for now I'm keeping the designs under wraps until they actually release them.

At the polar opposite end of the spectrum, I've started on a new series of one-of-a-kind artists' books inspired by a recent trip to the beach.  More details soon to follow as it comes together.  For now, some photos of the work-in-progress (Surf book #1) in the studio...

Poem of the week featured on The The poetry blog

This is tangential to book arts, but I'm so pleased to have a poem featured on The The poetry blog this week.

Many thanks to them -- especially to Colie Hoffman, poetess extraordinaire and all-around awesome muchacha!

Revisiting that particular poem -- a haiku sequence called "in our bodies now" -- I have an idea to turn it into a new book project. The repetitive form seems like it would work well with an accordion-fold structure, and I've got some ideas to add a performance/ritual element to it. Hope to be able to report some progress in the not-too-distant future...

5 haiku

In the excitement of working on stitching speechless -- the editioned artist's book that's been taking up most of our studio time -- I almost forgot about this unique, one-off I made for the Ackland Museum Store's "Books and Broadsides" show back in the fall.

It's called 5 haiku, and it uses the steel can star-binding that I invented a couple of years ago for another project called the Googled English Frontier Star. This binding consists of 5 signatures arranged around a central cylinder to form a star. I've done the binding before using either steel cans or sturdy cardboard tubes covered in decorative paper or cloth to form the central cylinder.

Each signature is sewn in a regular 3-hole pamphlet sewing pattern. Instead of tying the thread off at the end of a section, though, you carry it through the center of the cylinder to begin the pamphlet sewing of the signature on the opposite side. If you do it carefully, your criss-crossing threads will form a perfect star in the middle.


5 haiku uses four poems from my poetry blog (no more moon poems) as its text, plus a fifth "visual" haiku that consists of burn marks on the paper. I've used burning decoratively elsewhere on the pages, too. The poems are printed on a beautiful handmade mulberry paper which I tore down by hand, leaving furred edges and cloud-like shapes. Below are a few more images to give you a better sense of it.

stitching speechless: new photos

Our biggest project here at blue bluer books for a while now has been stitching speechless, an artist's book based on haiku by Zen art scholar Stephen Addiss. We're publishing it in two separate editions: a deluxe edition printed on handmade Japanese kozo paper and using other traditional Japanese book materials and techniques; and a facsimile edition printed using the self-publishing website Lulu.com. For the facsimile edition, I buy the copies directly from Lulu and then rebind them myself with some handmade touches and a special cover.



Copies of both editions are on exhibit now at the Ackland Museum Store in Chapel Hill, NC until Dec. 18th as part of their "Books and Broadsides" show. stitching speechless will also soon be available through Vamp and Tramp Booksellers.

If you're in the Chapel Hill area and would like to learn more about it, I'll be giving a talk about the whole publishing process next Thursday, Nov. 17th at 7:00 at the Ackland Store.

In the meantime, here are some more photos of copies of the facsimile edition: