Book Studio

Caren Florance is teaching at the Sturt Summer School in January 2008.

Artful Books aims to introduce the concept of the book as art by working through a range of structures and techniques. Books produced will range from a simple concertina fold through to more complex origami-inspired formats and on again to Asian stab books and simple Western codex bindings. There will also be a session in which we will play with altering vintage books. Every day each participant will complete at least one book, and will have a number of paper maquettes to take home for future reference.

The course runs from 2 to 6 January 2008 at Sturt in Mittagong, NSW, and enrolments will be taken right up to the day.

For more information visit the website or call 02 4860 2080 or 02 4860 2083.�

The ANU School of Art is having an Open Day on this Saturday, August 26 from 9am to 4pm, along with the rest of the university.

The Book Studio, upstairs in the Printmedia & Drawing Workshop, will be open and operational, and there will numerous activities throughout the Workshop itself, including demonstrations of various print techniques, a print sale, t-shirt sale, plate-drawing stall and a sausage sizzle.

The Book Studio has been printing cloth serviettes to add to the sausage sizzle, cut from white cotton drill and printed with letterpress ink (which, from long experience, does not wash out!). Here are a few samples:

We’ve also printed a few items of clothing, just for fun.

Open Day is a fantastic way to see the School of Art in operation. There are activities happening in all workshops: Printmedia, Photomedia, Painting, Ceramics, Glass, Textiles, Furniture, Gold & Silversmithing, and Sculpture. There is also the judging of the annual Student Drawing Prize in the Gallery, as well as many opportunities to buy or win artworks.

If you’re in the Canberra region, this is a great way to spend your Saturday, no matter the weather.

Bookbinding Exhibition Australia (BEA) is planning its next exhibition, Under the Cover, to be held at the Stanton Library in North Sydney from November 2006 to the end of January 2007.

They invite bookbinders and others who make books to take a broad view of the title and create a binding that represents what they see under the cover — be it under the quilt cover, the book cover, or even the cover of darkness. Inspiration might be found in quilting material and methods, or this aspect can be disregarded all together. However participants choose to interpret Under the Cover, BEA anticipate this will be an exciting exhibition of diverse bookbinding methods and styles. They hope to attract a broad group of participants for this exhibition.

The Stanton Library is organising an exhibition of heritage Australian quilts, from Annette Gero’s collection, to be held at the same time as Under the Cover. Even though the exhibitions will be in separate spaces, there are similarities and differences between the two and they have chosen the exhibition title with that in mind.

More information is available on the BEA website http://bookbindingexhibitions.com.au

For anyone into Mail Art projects here’s a fun print one:

Field Study presents: WIPE – Light-weight bookwork

Produce a print edition of 40 on toilet paper (any type). It’s an open theme, any print technique allowed, including rubber stamps and typewriting. (No organic materials or traces allowed!) Max size: 14 x 11 cm. The sheets are stapled at one side, at the left, so take this into account when you work out your page design.
This is an ongoing project, with no deadline. The co-ordinator waits until 20 participants have sent editions in, then compiles 40 booklets and sends each artist a copy. The other copies are sold to institutions and artist-book collectors, and some are given away as gifts.

Field Study is a non-profit organization and all monies raised are ploughed back into the Field for future projects.

Address: Field Study, P.O. Box 1838, Geelong VIC 3220 Australia.

[I have sent a few editions off to this project. Its been going for ages, by the looks of it, and has a lot of international participants. The first time I sent one off, the booklet was #35 in the series, and that was a couple of years ago! You can print, sew, paste, and type. It gets pretty addictive, and it totally changes the way you look at toilet paper when you walk through the supermarket...]