Collaboration, by chance

Title page of the unique copy of stitching speechless created by the audience at the University of Richmond.

Artists' books lend themselves extremely well to collaboration.  My opinion is that it's because so many different skills are involved in creating one -- writing, image-making, graphic design, bookbinding, etc. -- that it provides fertile ground for people with different strengths to work together.  Regardless of why it's true, it's one of the things I love most about the genre.

So when I was planning a talk in conjunction with an exhibition of John Cage's art at the University of Richmond -- and especially considering Cage's own open, experimental spirit -- it seemed appropriate that it should include an element of collaboration with the audience.  After all, it was due to another collaboration that I had been invited to give the talk in the first place:  stitching speechless.

One page created by an audience member.

Stitching speechless is an artist's book in two editions that was a joint effort with Stephen Addiss, and in some respects, with Cage himself.  In Richmond my presentation would be about the decision-making process behind creating the editions -- from how the poems were composed, to selecting the most meaningful materials, to partially burning each page according to a sheet of randomized numbers created years before by Cage.

While doing research for the presentation I read about an instance when Cage involved his audience in the creation of a concert, and it clicked -- the most meaningful way to learn about creating a book would be to create a book.  (More after the photo...)

One of the stranger haiku in stitching speechless gets a delightfully strange treatment.

I decided to print and prepare beforehand all the pages necessary to create a new copy of stitching speechless.  Audience members would then be invited to make contributions by altering each page before I bound them together.  How they altered the pages would be determined by chance, using the same sheet of randomized numbers that Steve and I had used in creating the original edition.

When we made the original edition I altered the pages by burning parts of them with a match or with an incense stick.  We were quickly told that fire would not be an option in the gallery.  So I devised 3 new ways that people could contribute to the pages, each inspired by my teacher (Steve), his teacher (John Cage), or his teacher (Marcel Duchamp). 

Steve is a scholar of Zen art, so the method inspired by his work was for audience members to create an enso on the page.  Ensos are simple circular brushworks created by Zen monks and artists.  To avoid the mess of having people use calligraphy brushes to create their ensos, I gathered a number of different-sized objects with round rims which folks could ink up on an inkpad and then press onto the page. 

One page showing an enso and the effect of paper tearing.

One of John Cage's techniques for creating visual art was to take natural objects from local surroundings, place them on the page, and then paint or draw around them (see his New River Watercolors series).  For our second method of altering pages I followed his lead.  I gathered objects from outside my home in North Carolina as well as on the UR campus to mingle the two locales of the project.  Audience members would either trace those objects or draw something inspired by them using watercolor pencils.

This one is especially effective as you turn the page.

And finally, I have always loved the story of Marcel Duchamp's Three Standard Stoppages, in which he created new units of measurement by dropping three meter-long threads onto canvases and then cutting the canvas according to how the thread fell.  So for the third kind of alterations to stitching speechless, audience members would drop threads onto pages of the book, and we would tear the paper according to how the thread fell.

This was the most disturbing method of alteration.  But once we got over the initial shock of tearing the pages of a "precious" book, the mulberry paper's soft, feathering torn edges made up for it.  And once the pages were bound together at the end of the evening it appeared that no permanent harm was done -- just interesting effects as pages turned in new ways.

Despite the threat of chaos, we managed to alter all of the pages in a short amount of time.  I sewed the book up with a standard 4-hole stab binding while answering questions from the audience and in the end, together we had created a unique artist's book with multiple layers of inspiration from that particular time, place, and the people involved.

John Cage and Artists' books -- at the University of Richmond on Tuesday

First thing's first:  if you're interested in following everyday news of blue bluer books events, please stop by my new Facebook page.  That's where I will be most likely to give timelier updates about talks and exhibitions that you might want to know about.

Like this one! 

stitching speechless,
Stephen Addiss & Josh Hockensmith (2011)

On Tuesday I'll be putting on an event at my alma mater, University of Richmond, in conjunction with their current exhibition of John Cage prints.  If you followed that link you might be alarmed to see that the event is scheduled to be an hour and a half long, but don't despair -- it's not going to be a standard lecture.

For the first part of the evening I'll give a presentation about artists' books, John Cage, and the Cage-inspired artist's book I've made in collaboration with UR professor Stephen Addiss, stitching speechless.  Then after the slide show and talk, the audience will be invited to join in creating a new, one-of-a-kind copy of our artist's book, which will be donated to the museum when we finish it. 

Today I've been preparing the pages for the copy the audience will help to create, and I have to say I'm excited with how they look so far.  Here are some preliminary images (and more info about the UR event below the photos):

 

 

At the event at UR, the audience will be using chance methods inspired by Cage, Addiss, and Marcel Duchamp to alter the pages before I sew them together into the finished product.  Can't wait to see the results.

If you're in Richmond, hope to see you there!

Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Artist’s Talk, Harnett Print Study Center, University Museums

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:

New artist's book!: "Stitching speechless"

I've just finished the first copy of the new artist's book from blue bluer books:

stitching speechless

It's been at least 3 years in the making, so I'm thrilled to finally have a finished copy to feature here.

Stitching speechless features 17 haiku by Zen art and haiku scholar Stephen Addiss. I'll post more information about the process of creating it soon, but for now I will just share some photos.

If you'd like to learn more about stitching speechless and see it in person, I'll be talking about it at Frank Gallery in Chapel Hill this Thursday evening, July 7th. The event will feature two fantastic fellow local book artists talking about their work as well: John Davis and Ariel Rudolph. Refreshments will start around 6 p.m.; the talk will begin around 6:30 or so.

In the meantime, here are some more photos:

New local book arts group -- Triangle, NC

I've been an absent blogger for a while, but not for lack of activity and news to report. The past couple of months have seen some exciting developments. For one, I'm finally making progress on a new artist's book project with Steve Addiss that's been in the planning stages for several years now. I'll have a new post about that soon, with photos.

The other most exciting thing has been the founding of a new local book arts group in the area -- the Triangle Area Book Arts Group.

Last year when my library helped to host a series of book arts events at UNC and Duke, two themes kept coming up. First: there was a ton of local interest in book arts and a multitude of practitioners. Second: we were all working individually, with only sporadic contact with each other and no network for sharing news, questions, or expertise.

After the series of events wrapped up, I stayed in contact with the people who expressed an interest and together we have started this group. There are several components. First we have a Google group which serves as an email listserv for all members to share news and plan events. Second, we've been meeting monthly to discuss the direction of the group and follow up on event planning. And third, we've been planning workshops and other activities outside of the monthly meetings. In April Lisa Gilbert taught a workshop on how to create the mysterious Secret Belgian Binding. And last month Mary Yordy and Bryant Holsenbeck taught the group techniques for making paste paper.

Along with the meetings and workshops, we are planning more public presentations to raise awareness of book arts in the local community -- demonstrations, exhibits of our work, etc. It looks like our first foray into that area will be at Frank Gallery in Chapel Hill, where three of us will discuss our work at one of their TGI Thursday artist talks in July. It's tentatively scheduled for Thursday, July 7th from 5-8 p.m. -- I'll post the details when it's 100% certain.

In the meantime, if you're in the area and are curious about the book arts scene, please feel free to check out the Google group and get in touch! We're a very friendly group open to all areas of book arts interest and skill levels.

And if you've read this far, here's a glimpse of the new book:



More soon!