The Toymaker

The Toymaker is Marilyn Scott-Waters, a graphic designer, author and illustrator who has a web site of over 200 downloadable paper toys, holiday cards, valentines, sun boxes, baskets and bags, origami and ephemera... all for you to make. Just print them out, cut, glue and enjoy ... or buy the book. Included among the toys are some simple book and moveable structures:

A Fairy Book (concertina book)
Two Rabbit Friends (popup card)
Cupid on Valentine's Day (sliding window card)
A Little Book About The Circus (one-sheet star book)
Dream Theater (tunnel book)

Alphabet Mosaics

Fire Poi Typography- Letters
Originally uploaded by Nir Tober

As you can probably tell, I like unusual alphabets. Flickr has a lot of alphabet groups. Here's one with which to start.

Non-Linear Books

For most of us the word "book" presents a visual image of multiple planes, covered and bound together on one side and viewed by turning one page at a time and reading the text from top to bottom and left to right. This is not how it has always been, nor, necessarily how it will be in the future.

The nonlinear visual book has been a part of communication history since the beginning of human life. In terms of the visual transmission of ideas, there are many examples. Before codified systems of writing, objects were decorated or modified in such a way as to communicate a message.

Thus begins the introduction to a fascinating and inspiring journey through non-linear book structures and a discussion of how the presentation of text affects the way we interpret it. The author also shares some thoughts about the future of text and the book in the new electronic age.

What Are Artists' Books?

There is no official definition of what is meant by the term, artist book, nor is there any agreement on when it was introduced historically or where artists’ books fit in the Craft vs. Fine Art debate. The most that can be agreed upon is that they are visually expressive objects that function like a book in the conveyance of information which may or may not be of a textual nature. Simply put, they are works of art realized in the form of a book. For a scholarly essay on artist’s books see Johanna Drucker’s first chapter, The Artist’s Book as Idea and Form, from her book, The Century of Artists’ Books.

What is it about the book form that attracts artists? I would say, everything. The definition of a book from the artist’s point of view is very broad indeed, ranging from the traditional codex form to books that could be described as sculptural. It would appear that almost any art form or technique can, with a certain degree of adaptation, be used in the creation of book structures and the content within.

Artists' books are a hybrid form. Artists make them for all kinds of reasons, and with different intentions. Artists' books may be rich and fancy, or they may look as common as supermarket circulars. There is no one look about them.

The simplest definition of artists' books is: "books made by artists." Though bordering on the tautological, this is a good working definition for a rich and complicated genre.

One of the reasons discussions of artists' books begin with efforts of definition is that they are a subset of a medium: the book. Paintings don't exist outside of art, but books do. All paintings are made by artists (arguably of varying degrees of talent and professionalism; trained elephants and schoolchildren notwithstanding). Defining what is meant by the term artists' book is a necessary requirement for a form whose related (non-fine arts) members include TV Guides and the Bible.

It's important not to confuse artists' books with art books, or books about artists (monographs, for instance). In the last several decades many artists have made books, and used the book form as a primary tool of expression. This movement into a relatively unexplored medium or genre needed a new descriptor. Artists' books is the result, and though its definition is not entirely fixed, it is the term most often used to describe recent or contemporary book productions by artists.

Thinking of the artists as being responsible for both the text and the physical realization of that text as a book may be a helpful construct in understanding the field. The difference between an artists' book and a book illustrated by an artist has to do with intentionality and degrees of control. The illustrator may be one of several subordinate collaborators who is responsible for one aspect of the book's realization. In general, the book artist conceptually controls the whole publication.

What is it about book form that attracts artists? The books' physical nature is one inducement. Structurally, the book is a gathering of bound, usually printed, pages. The properties of portability, sequence, and containment are of particular interest to visual artists. Other allures of the book form that have been exploited by artists have to do with function: readers invest books with authority; their use is known, and their presence is ubiquitous.

Tracy Honn,
Silver Buckle Press
Artist's Books: Highlights from the Kohler Art Library

photo, William Blake, The Temptation of Eve, perhaps the earliest example of a book artist in the modern sense.

CBAS Study Group: Piano Hinge Books

The Cincinnati Book Arts Society to which I belong has a study group. We meet at a local library, nine times a year, on the third Saturday of the month.

Being a member of the study group means being willing to participate by being in charge of a program. It’s not as scary as you might think. We are a friendly, informal group and you do not have to have a background in the topic you want to share, just agree to learn about it and pass along what you have learned to the study group members. It is also fine to have a joint presentation with another study group member and while most of the meetings are about book structures, this year we are also planning a field trip to a member’s studio.

Our last program was the first of a two part demonstration of interlocking and woven books structures, specifically the piano hinge structure. The image at top left, Crown of Thorns by Tennille Shuster, believe it or not, is just such a structure. The one at top right by our program presenter, Cody Calhoun (who, incidentally has a book in the online Flag Book Bind-O-Rama Exhibit), is the more traditional format. Here is a free tutorial. Don’t be confused by the name, skewered book. Skewers are often used in the construction of this type of book, but piano hinge is the traditional name.

Origamic Architecture: Intricate Pop-ups

Origamic architecture is an amazing paper art. It involves the three-dimensional reproduction of architecture, geometric patterns, and everyday objects, on various scales, using cut-out and folded paper, usually thin cardboard. Visually, these creations are comparable to intricate pop-ups.

Like origami, origamic architecture originates from Japan. Tokyo Institute of Technology professor Masahiro Chatani is credited as the art form's creator, a practitioner of it since the 1980s. While his website showcases some incredible examples of his work, the website, Willem’s Origamic Architecture. from which I obtained the images in this post, pairs a photograph of the actual architectural model with the origamic rendering. The models are pretty impressive. To get a feel for what is involved, download one of the models that the site offers and make one yourself.

Himeji Castle, Himeji, Japan, 1333, rebuilt 1601

Flag Book Bind-O-Rama Winners

Have you been wondering who the winners of the Flag Book Bind-O-Rama challenge are? Wonder no longer. The twenty-eight winning books are being featured in an online exhibit on the Book Arts Web. And, as promised, the exhibit also appears in the latest edition of the Bonefolder (Volume 3, Number 1), which I highly recommend downloading and reading, even if it takes a long time for those of you with dial-up connections.



It was hard to chose which books to feature here, they are all wonderful in different ways. Content, materials, and structure are important elements in all but what I found is that usually one dominates and because it does the book makes a statement.

Starting at the top and working down, Hedi Kyle, originator of the flag book technique, uses the traditional structure that she developed, but the very untraditional material of mica to capture the play of light and shadow that has captured her interest. “I often envision the flag book as a movable screen to define space,” she says in her statement. Marcia Ciro’s book compares the man-made car environment with the natural environment. As successful as the comparison may be, the placement of the car side mirrors and their repetition reminds me of clasped hands and interlocked fingers with the mirrors representing fingernails. In Esther Kibby’s book, the Native American story, How Porcupine Got His Quills, is used to explore flag shapes that become a sculptural book. Finally, I could not resist, Sheila Cunningham’s book, Shut Your Mouth. It’s funny and visceral. Makes me want to laugh and tremble at the same time. I'm sure if I get close I will feel the air reverberating.

Top to Bottom:
Hedi Kyle, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Marcia Ciro, Watertown, MA, USA
Esther Kibby, Dallas, TX, USA
Sheila Cunningham, Dallas, TX, USA