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| "Love in Four Pieces"
Details: About this book: (artist's statement) The ability for readers to interact with a book in a meaningful way, and through that interaction to be engaged viscerally with the text, is the main thrust of my work in the book arts. "Love in Four Pieces", explores the voyeurism and exhibitionism that has become so prevalent in youth culture today, as well as the exploitation which exists within even exclusive relationships. The work as a whole is nuanced in its redundancy, a reflection of the confessionalist poetry which was the inspiration for the book and installation. The Installation: The installation for “Love in Four Pieces” requires that the viewer reach up the skirt of a suspended sundress in order to reach the book and the text. The book has been covered to resemble frilly ladies’ panties. (If the reader was being truly deviant and were to remove the book from the lacy cover, they would find that the under-cover is printed on ArjoWiggins’ Curious Touch coverstock, which is a specialty paper that feels very much like skin). It is certainly an uncomfortable way to read a book, reflecting the uncomfortable themes in the text itself. The Composite Book: I am very interested in books as installation, however I also believe that my books are first and foremost books. That is why I decided to edition “Love in Four Pieces” as a composite book. The four sundress chapbooks become four chapters of a longer poetry anthology, complete with hand-made cover and long lingerie straps should the reader wish to recreate the experience of the installation with their own garments at home. (I love the idea of this book being hung up in a closet instead of standing on a bookshelf.) About the design: each poem is laid parallel to a haiku (or triptych) of thumbnail icons. These icons repeat throughout the book, giving the laymens reader an “in” to the meta-narrative created when one takes the collection in its entirety. Some obscure connections with regards to the biographical background behind the poetry are emphasized through imagery only, and in this way the design of the book furthers the understanding of the text while also ornamenting it. The Posters: Accompanying the installation are four 40 x 26” posters, also printed on ArjoWiggin’s Curious Touch coverstock. These posters are meant to be touched, like the sundresses, and thus remain unframed (or, rather, framed without glass). They highlight one piece from each of the four sections of the book, typographically resolving issues of multiple narratives/narrators and excessive length. If a poem is meant to be an ongoing linear experience, then in the case of long poems the book does a disservice to the continuity of the piece (requiring that it be chopped into page-length segments). The posters address these issues in the framework of the whole installation, and are themselves as rare/underutilized a method of presenting poetry as are installation books. Cranbrook has a long and esteemed history when it comes to poster design, which I drew upon when creating these pieces. |
