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THE WORLD'S LONGEST ACCORDION BOOK! As our BIG, final event during MCBA's Symposium, volunteers and staff assembled the world's longest book on July 28, 2007. Our magnificent book spanned the Stone Arch Bridge, stretching a half-mile across the Mighty Mississippi. With the help of Merit Printing and Fox River Paper, who graciously donated over 3,500 feet of paper, we achieved what seemed, when we first began folding and glueing, absolutely impossible. The book began as a concept in 2006 when we brainstormed ideas for the endcap to Symposium 2007. Why not build a book to show how art serves as a bridge and how the book arts bridge the literary arts with visual art? The Stone Arch Bridge was the ideal venue for the project; this pedestrian/bike route is located just blocks from MCBA. |
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Our youngest volunteer, Ava Bee Chapman draws on a page before it is folded and glued.
MCBA artistic director Jeff Rathermel gets ready to unfold another pre-assembled section of the World's Longest Book. Volunteers, Symposium participants and MCBA staff folded and glued the sections at MCBA prior to the installation on the Stone Arch Bridge.
Lots of passersby "read" the book as it lay opened across the bridge. MCBA volunteers handed out mini accordion booklets to educate the public about book arts, MCBA programs and our spacious facility.
Volunteer Karen Kinoshita models one of the "connector" pages printed by Amos Paul Kennedy and used to connect the pre-assembled sections. |
Amos Paul Kennedy Jr. was in Minneapolis to teach a Symposium workshop and for the opening reception of an MCBA exhibition he curated: We, Too, Are Book Artists. During his first three days at MCBA, Amos used wood type to letterpress print hundreds of pages for the World's Longest Book. Don't let his stern look here fool you: it was probably the ONLY time he didn't smile during his energetic and enthusiastic visit at MCBA. Amos, we love you.
Here you can see the book being assembled from the north end of the bridge. The orange speck in the distance is the lead assembler of the book from the south end of the bridge. It took only 20 minutes to staple the glued sections together and create a half-mile long accordion book.
Volunteers celebrate the north section of the book meeting the south section in the middle of the bridge. The guy in the orange shirt, Dave Urban, is the orange speck in the photo above this one.
With one of the excess sections we wrapped project lead Wendy Fernstrum. In the background you can see the Guthrie Theatre and the Mill City Museum, a frequent MCBA collaborator.
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Disassembling the world's longest book took a bit longer than stapling it together as the wind caught separated sections and sent volunteers scurrying. Our project was environmentally sound: all of the pages were gathered up and returned to MCBA, where they now sit in boxes, awaiting our next BIG idea.
A BIG THANKS TO MERIT PRINTING, FOX RIVER PAPER, MCBA STAFF, SYMPOSIUM PARTICIPANTS AND VOLUNTEERS WHO DEVOTED TIME AND ENERGY TO MAKING THE WORLD'S LONGEST BOOK! |
Volunteer Dave Urban folds up a section with Amos Paul Kennedy's "ART IS A BRIDGE" letterpress printed pages.
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Minnesota Center for Book Arts is located in the Open Book Building in Minneapolis, Minnesota FAX: 612.215.2545 or contact us via EMAIL © 2007 Minnesota Center for Book Arts |
