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next project
The new blog for my final project my degree show peice can be found here:
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For my first experiment, I cut out the middle section of every page of a book,including the back cover. I then glued this to an old box I then used the cut out parts of the book to cover the inside of the box and book to create a deceptive piece that viewers can peer into.
I don’t think this piece is very successful, it does not look particularly good and I don’t think it really explores my theme by looking at the way people add to books by putting items or notes in them.
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Evaluation
I have now set up my final piece, after testing out cool boxes and mini fridges I finally decided to use a table top freezer as that really is the only way to keep the books in their icy state for as long as necessary. I placed the freezer on a table with a sofa facing it so that people could sit and read the books if they choose. I also put down a rug so that when people read the books and the ice falls away from the cover it can fall safely onto the rug and be soaked up rather than creating a hazardous slippy floor.
After looking into the way interactive and installation art is displayed and exploring information with art in my essay this year, I decided to put a small instructional panel on the freezer.I kept it brief so that viewers of the piece would know that they could open the freezer and take out books, and also get a vague idea of what the piece was about (the books being in a paused state). I decided against displaying a full artist statement or explanation of the concept, because I wanted viewers to have their own interpretations and not force too much information on them.
in my proposal I stated that I wanted to look at the way objects such as books can be active or inactive, i.e.books are useless when they are being read, they are only an active object when being read. I aimed to explore this concept by looking at how objects that are not in use can become sculptural,and so I looked at fossilization weathering,and covering books in clay, and eventually freezing which I used for my final piece.
I feel I fulfilled my aims in my proposal well, and visualised my concept successively through my final piece. Using the freezer and icy books to show how the books are paused and purely a visual object when not being read,then they are active when they are being read, and then when someone stops reading them they are returned to the freezer and become inactive once more.
Overall I am happy with my final piece, I think visually it looks good, and explores and interesting concept. Some of the books didn’t turn out as I planned, with the ice not attaching well to certain books, however they still had a thin icy layer and I surrounded them with crushed ice once in the freezer so I think they still achieve the look and feel that I wanted. If I were to develop the project further I could look into putting the installation in different situations such as in a library.
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images of my uni art piece, Jan 2012.
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My final installation piece, exploring the idea that books are an inactive object when they are not being read, they are in a paused state, waiting to be read.
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two of the ice covered books that are going into my final piece.
These worked really well because the covers are matte and so the ice attaches more easily than on a glossy cover.
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Research for Display Methods
Planning the way I am going to display my frozen books I have research the display of books, such as Traditional library settings and book shelves.
I have also looked into unique shelves created by artists and designers such as these
http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/04/customized-book-side-tables/
http://ricochetstudio.blogspot.com/2008/05/shelf-clamp.html
http://blog.betterworldbooks.com/2008/12/15/infinity-bookshelf/
I then looked at the way book art is displayed in gallery settings, such as these
http://centralbookingnyc.com/about-central-booking/
I also looked into the way that antique or precious books are often displayed in museums, in cabinets so that they are protected and cannot be touched. So you can only read the pages on display, or look at the front cover, they become more like ornaments than books
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-39/book-display-in-the-british-galleries/
http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/journals/conservation-journal/issue-22/mounts-for-the-display-of-books/
Becasue my books are frozen however I need to look into displaying the books in a freezer or cool box, so that they remain as an icy sculpture until someone takes them out and reads them.
I was told by a tutor about artist Rose Finn-Klecey, who used a large walk in fridge to display a cubicle of ice,
http://www.sculpture.org.uk/RoseFinn-Kelcey/biography/
I also looked at art works and installations which rely on the viewer interacting with the works, as I will want viewers to interact with my books. I looked at artists such as “Staircase” by Rosie Leventon where veiwers can open the drawers in a staircase to see the water within them
http://www.rosieleventon.com/gallery-interventions/interactive-art-STAIRCASE.html
and pieces which the viewer can actively affect and change (as they will with mine) such as Hannes Broecker’s piece which invited viwers to drink the art work
http://visualstreak.com/2007/12/11/refreshing-interactive-art-by-hannes-broecker/
All of these areas of research relate to or have influence my display choices for my final piece, I have decided to display the books as if they were on a shelf or in a cupboard - stacked on top of each other and/or side by side. However they will be within a freezer, fridge or cool box which people will have to open in order to explore the books, and if they choose to, read parts of some.
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The process of covering the books in ice.
After lots of experiments this is the final method I have chosen to use for my final frozen book installation piece.
- Take a book, spray the spine and front/back cover with some water,wrap in a plastic bag, and put in freezer so that a thin layer of ice covers parts of the book.
- Crush ice cubes,and thin shards of ice in a blender with a small amount of water.
- take out a book and spread the crushed ice over the spine and parts of the cover, and press down so it sticks to the book (I have to do this bit quickly! so it doesn’t begin to melt and so not attach)
- wrap tightly in the plastic bag again so that it hold the ice in place on the book, and freeze again.
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Ice Experiments,
Once I decided on the basic plan for my final piece, books with ice attached to their covers and spines (which comes of when someones tries to read the book) I then needed to decided on the best type of ice to use.
I experimented with coarsely crushing ice cubes and sheets of ice into large shards, but I didn’t think this looked good aesthetically, and it also didn’t attach to the books very well, and fell of very easily because of its size.
I then explored using natural frost, gathered from outside on frosty mornings (from cars, and windows etc…) I liked how this looked on the book as it was so white and blocked out the cover of the book. However again it didn’t attach very well and was very fragile, it would melt and slide off as soon as I touched it or tried to move the book.
I will aim to use quite finely crushed Ice instead as this attached better to the books, generally staying on until someone picks up and inspects the books.
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Contextual References
These are some of the artists and projects I have researched throughout my project that link to or have influenced my book experiments and final piece:
As previously stated in my blog I began by looking at fossilization and petrification, and artist Jacek Tylicki and Diana Bell.
I then explored appropriation artists, and in particular artists who use and change books such as:
Jaqueline Rush Lee creates sculptures from books, transforming them by using water and other techniques that change the books form, and purpose - into visual conceptual pieces.This really relates to my work.
http://www.jacquelinerushlee.com/images/images.html#
Thomas Allen also works with books, changing their meaning by making them more of a visual object, by cutting out the cover art of certain books and linking the art of several books together to create 3d scenes.
http://www.foleygallery.com/artists/artist_ins.php3?artist=8
Alexander Korzer-Robinson also explores cutting up books in his work, however in a much more intricate way. He takes antique books and goes through every page, cutting out certain illustrations and removing parts, the result is a layered book sculpture made up of the illustrations - again the book is no longer a readable thing but a visual one.
http://www.alexanderkorzerrobinson.co.uk/book-objects-gallery
I also looked at decaying antique books, and when books are purposefully left to decay and change - as in this project byThilo Folkerts and Rodney LaTourelle where books were piled up in a garden space to create an architectural installation which explores decomposition. Some books even began to grow mushrooms. viewers were able to touch and look at the books whilst they were still in their original condition. This relates to my work by looking at the idea of abandoning books or changing their role.
http://www.dezeen.com/2010/08/12/jardin-de-la-connaissance-by-rodney-latourelle-and-100-landschaftsarchitektur/
I also looked at preserving books, and was inspired by this news story
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-14897373
I then looked at artists who use ice in their work,
using the ice to melt and reveal things as with MarkCoreth’s melting polar bear piece for WWF
http://www.nextnature.net/2009/12/melting-polar-bear-reveals-a-metal-skeleton/
i also looked at methods of encasing objects in ice
http://www.alcademics.com/2010/09/freezing-objects-in-ice.html
I also looked into Kerem Ozan Bayraktar’s series “Ice cubes” where he used resin to look like ice encasing objects (but as it is resin it will never melt)
http://www.curatedmag.com/news/2011/02/14/kerem-ozan-bayraktars-ice-cubes/
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The anti-Library
This project was suggested to me by a tutor, it really relates to my work as it is looking at creating a collection of unread books. Its a really interesting piece and way of using the books people haven’t read. This really relates to my project because I have decided to use unread books, books from myself and friends that we have bought but never read.
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The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham which I covered in crushed ice and froze. I love how the ice and frost obscure the book cover, you can hardly tell what the book is. It looks unused and unloved….but is still totally readable once someone opens the book and cracks the ice.
