Flip Off

Flip Off
May 17 – July 28, 2013

Presented in coordination with Directed


At the end of the 19th century, flip books — small printed editions that produce the illusion of continuous movement when their pages are quickly turned — became hugely popular. Such works provided the foundation for modern film animation, and many contemporary book artists continue to create “thumb cinema.” Flip Off, an open-call, hands-on flip book exhibition and competition, is presented by Minnesota Center for Book Arts in conjunction with Book Art Biennial 2013 and Directed: The Intersection of Book, Film and Visual Narrative.

View a sampling of images from this exhibition. Refresh the page for another sampling, or visit MCBA on Flickr to view the full album.

Winner:

Patrick Kelley (Olivebridge, NY), Just What the World Needs

Honorable Mentions:

Coralie Leray and Laurent Wysocka (Redon, France), La pousseuse à gazon
Sarah Lee (Minneapolis, MN), The day Hipstotter realized his legs were too short to ride his fixie: despondency ensues

Participating artists:

Katharine Bailey
Marina Bancroft
Scott Blake
Peter Bushell
Keith Cummings
Wiebke Folsch
Bergen Haag
Karen Hanmer
Jennifer Hines
Babette Katz
Patrick Kelley
Jes Lee
Sarah Lee
Eric Leiser
Coralie Leray
Louise Levergneux
Jonathan Lewis
Curt Lund
Scott McCarney
Cathryn Miller
Claire Jeanine Satin
Erin Schmidt
Teagan Schneider
Jan Severson
Robin Silberman
Lynn Skordal
Nikki Thompson
Cecilia Westerberg
Laurent Wysocka

As sequential narratives, artists’ books share much in common with film. Both are time-based and grounded in sequential visual communication. Historically, as well as in contemporary practice, artists blur and perforate the boundaries between these two disciplines to create innovative, engaging, and interactive works. Directed: The Intersection of Book, Film and Visual Narrative explores this juncture by presenting film/video artists that create narratives in a book-like fashion; artists that create works comprised of both physical objects and film/video productions; artists who in their creative oeuvre use both the book format as well as video/film to communicate signature themes; contemporary and historical graphic novelists who bridge the gap between utilitarian story boards and best-selling publications; and book artists who express content using traditional cinematic conventions such as montage, close-ups, fades, pans, slow motion, flashbacks, foreshadowing, props, split screens and other film-like methods for maintaining engagement and directing the eyes of viewers/readers.