While
farmers out in the country pulled and plucked their bounty
this summer, six teen artists from the Metro area used their
hands to make homegrown, original artwork. The artists, all
enrolled in the Summer Session of Minnesota Center For Book
Arts’ By Design program for teens, not only made
fantastic book art, but also planned and curated their own
exhibition. In addition, each teen gave an artist talk at the
opening reception.
The
artists talk was “super scary” for Sophie
Alfano, because it was her first time presenting her work formally
to an audience. At the same time, she was relieved to discover
that the audience didn’t care that she was a novice speaker. “They
just want to know about the process,” she said, and understand
the artists’ intentions and motivations for the work.
“This exhibition is the best ever,” says Anna
Tsantir, MCBA’s Teen Programs Coordinator. “I know,
I always say that – but it’s true!” The HOMEGROWN exhibition brings By Design’s fifth year to a close.
The
Summer Session of By Design is dedicated to advanced students
who have graduated from the introductory session, offered during
the fall and spring. Prospective students submit a proposal
describing the art project they intend to work on during the
six-week session. Competition was stiff this year. Students
selected for the Summer Session included Sophie Alfano, Anne
Higgins, Stephanie Kunze, Brita Light, Libby London, Kellie
Schweich, and Ellis vonSternberg.
Throughout the six-week session, each teen worked closely with an artist mentor who has been carefully matched to the teen based on techniques the teen will need to learn or hone to complete the project successfully. Summer Session mentors included Lin Lacy (Sophie), Chandler O’Leary (Ellis), Bridget O'Malley (Libby), Sarah Peters (Kellie), Regula Russelle (Anne), Jody Williams (Stephanie).
As
the exhibition opening date loomed closer, the teens met
with MCBA Artistic Director Jeff Rathermel for tips on installing
their work in the 2nd floor space of Open Book. “Jeff
taught us how to step back from the space and get an overall
look,” explains Kellie, “to figure out where the
eye is drawn and what is the first thing you see” when
entering the space. Jeff gave them suggestions for displaying
the artist statements, using all of the space in an inviting
way, and being mindful of the way lighting has an impact on
the space and the work exhibited.
Book art presents its own challenges during an installation
because of its dimensionality and the need, often, to display
the work behind glass in cases. A book can be opened to only
one spread at a time, requiring the curator to make a choice
about which spread to feature in the exhibition. One way to
help the viewer find a way into the work is to display with
the book some of the materials used to make the book. For example,
Sophie displayed original collages that were scanned and reproduced
at a smaller size in the book.
“We had to figure out a way to make the exhibition flow,” says
Stephanie, whose series of books filled an entire case. “We
had to open up the space and keep it from getting too crowded.”
Kellie
adds that the collaboration went well. “Everyone
decided as a group what work looked good together in the cases.
We were really good with bouncing ideas off one another.”
At
the opening reception, each teen gave a 5-minute presentation
about his or her work and answered questions from the audience.
Questions ranged from the technical (What is “oekakie”?)
to the personal (Were you the only guy in the program? How
did that feel?), to which Ellis answered, “Kind of felt
normal.”
At
the end of the artists talks, three spoken word poets from
Teens Rock the Mic performed one piece each. Brittany Delaney,
Caitlin Hill and Gayle Smaller had collaborated with Anne
on her book art project, which gave the urban spoken word
artists an extended forum for their voices. It also gave
them something they’d never had before: a book to sign
for their fans.
HOMEGROWN will be up through September 7, 2006, in the Cowles Literary
Commons on the 2nd floor at Open Book.
Brita
Light created the illustrations for the exhibition postcard
using a pressure print technique on the letterpress. Since
four cards were printed at one time on a single sheet of paper,
Brita prepared an original make-ready for each of the cards,
to create a varied edition. The By Design team handset the
type and printed that on the letterpress, as well.
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The
Very Rich
Hours of Sophia Alfano
Sophie Alfano
Sophie’s book is inspired by the Rohan
Master Book of Hours. “Through research I found books
at the library that provided more information on the Book
of Hours,” Sophie
says. “I was intrigued by the combination of both
text and image. Often the illustrations include a thin
scroll of text coming out of one of the figures’ mouths.
This technique reminded me of modern day comic books and
made me wonder what a modern day Book of Hours would be
like.” In her contemporary version of a book typically
containing prayers for different hours of the day, prayers
for saints, and prayers for the dead, Sophie uses collages
made with contemporary images from books and magazines
and materials such as hot sauce packets. Text in Sophie’s
book is written in a prayer format, but it’s “more
like complaining than prayers,” she says, “and
rants about my classes.” The one-of-a-kind
book is bound with a Coptic stitch, one of the
traditional methods for binding the Book of Hours.
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My Instrument of Choice, My Voice
Anne Higgins
One
of the challenges Anne faced with her book was in making
sure the poets’ spoken word preferences were
portrayed in the written, published format. Anne selected
three poems based on the thematic consistencies and an
overall connecting voice, and then listened to each artist
present the piece. “Spoken word is intense, so I
chose materials that convey the raw nature of spoken word
while trying to communicate the flow and the presence of
the poets. I laid out the page spreads on altered newspaper
due to the political nature of the content. I then copied
and fine press printed on packing paper, an everyday material
used to wrap consumer products.” The edition of
45 was hand-bound.
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States
of Mind
Stephanie Kunze
States of Mind is a series of seven books,
each one depicting a different state of mind. “The seven
states I decided to explore were reflective, shy, peaceful,
overwhelmed, isolated, random, and stunned, all of which
are universal feelings,” says Stephanie. “I
tried to make materials and media relate to the state of
mind they were used for.” In “Overwhelmed” she
used a mix of pencil drawings, text and collage, and added
an “unhealthy” amount of detail, making the
entire book almost overwhelming to look at. For “Random” Stephanie
collaged random images she had drawn and random words. “I
put the images in all sorts of positions, even if they
looked kind of goofy. For “Isolated” she
used Rapidograph pens for the black and white effect, which
are the colors she envisions when she thinks of isolation.
Not until Stephanie installed all of the books in the case
did she see that despite the varying media, her style remained
strong and true. |
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Letting Go
Brita
Light
Brita’s
book is a conceptual piece that started with the desire
to do a performance piece. “I think that
all of us have persistent memories, either good or bad.
In my book, the ones I chose to include were bad. Not
only bad memories but negative thoughts that do nothing
for me but bring me down. These memories distract me
from concentrating on the present. Sometimes I still
hold onto negative images of people even after they have
taken great measures to change. I came up with the idea
of putting these thoughts in a book and then burning
it, as a symbol of my letting them go. The book contained
drawings, photographs, paintings and written accounts
of these memories. The cover represents me, as a being,
and the contents that are burned represent my memories
and thoughts that I wished to dispose of. Just as the
cover is still here, so am I, ready for new memories—new
pages—to be made.” In the exhibition are
the charred remains from Brita’s performance, as
well as two flip books documenting the burning of the
book.
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The Wonderings of Why Things are the Way They Are
Libby London
Libby’s book began with a poem she was
supposed to write about something she knew, for an English
class. “After
I completed my poem, I realized that it wasn’t about
something I knew, it was about the many things in life
that are unexpected or cannot be controlled. My poem
has to do with the changes that people go through in life;
such as the process of growing up and trying o make a difference
in the world.” Complementing the poetry on each page
of her book are abstract pulp paintings with paper inclusions
on top of handmade paper. “I want the images in my
book to feel nonobjective so a viewer can decide for themselves
how they feel about my opinions in my book. The color and
feel of the book is meant to evoke the feeling of a children’s
book, but upon further examination, the viewer will become
aware that the book deals with many life ideas that people
of all ages can relate to.”
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A Life Through Letters
Kellie Schweich
Originally
Kellie wanted to letterpress print a fine-edition book
of her grandmother’s
stories, to honor their relationship and emphasize the
importance of the elderly to society. Then it morphed
into folios holding a collage of pictures, letters, stamps,
and other paper ephemera from experiences shared by Kellie
and her grandmother. “I wanted to
make the book more worldly, less personal, so everyone
could take something away from it,” says Kellie. “Each
folio recalls a memory or layer of our relationship. I
purposely left the page order open-ended because memories
are not usually recalled in a specific order. The folios
are contained within handmade abaca paper envelopes, which
are bound together by a coptic stitch. This structure is
important to my project, as it allows the folios to stand
by themselves and as a group. Envelopes also reflect a
sense of correspondence and connection, which is the overriding
theme of A Life Through Letters.
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Smurfs – a nice and accurate anthropological
study of lore, linguistics, lifestyles, & anatomy
Ellis vonSternberg
“Smurfs
must be one of the dumbest things on the planet,” says
Ellis. “Smurfs had no
history, it’s as if they popped up out of nowhere
just like they were. Why were they so useless?” Ellis
decided to write a pseudo-anthropological study of
smurfs and smurf life to try to understand his preoccupation
with these "annoying creatures." Ellis says
as his examination of smurfs began, "I found myself
making smurfs less cute like spider monkeys and more
disgusting like centipedes. I began to think of stuff
I didn’t
like, such as cold slimy things, and infuse that into
my smurfs. Also, I gave smurf-dom a religion or mythology
based on my own personal favorite myths and mythic
figures.” Multi-layered
marker drawings, tipped into the pages of the book,
portray smurfs through Ellis’ historical viewpoint.
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