One of the great benefits of using hand-bound books is that you can rebind your pages when the cover is worn or simply when you get tired of the whole thing.

I bound this sketch book back in 2005 after a short break, and it was quick and dirty. The cover of this half-filled sketch book was still in pretty good shape, albeit a bit loose. Although it hasn't been worn down as much, I have been wanting to give it a new look. It's about time.

The first step is "tearing down": I snipped the stitching on the spine as much as possible...


as well as the threads inside the sections, so the threads can be removed very quickly and easily without weakening the stations (pierced holes). It's definitely a snap to rebind if your binding is non-adhesive.

Woah, more paper goods from overseas, thanks M.! They are from Relma in Paris, a store which has been in business for almost a century.

Wrapped under this beautiful purple textured paper are 3 sheets of paper goodies. I undoubtedly saved this wrapping paper.


Goodie number 1: Hand-printed decorative paper, the pattern is absolutely classic and detailed:


Goodie number 2: Marbled paper:


Goodie number 3: Another sheet of gorgeous marbled paper which costs 20 euros:


Now let's take a look close up look of this gorgeous piece of art:


And some book cloths, which have a beautiful pearly sheen:

My friend Marc just came back from Japan a little while ago, and I am just glad that he didn't forget about me. He got me some omiyage (souvenir). And yes, you guessed it right, it's paper.

When he was at the store, he took a picture to showed me the stack of paper, asked if I wanted any. Of course, there was no way I could say no. Thanks to technology that he could e-mail me a picture right away and I could reply him instantly. Otherwise the unthinkable would happen: that I wouldn't receive these beautiful sheets of handmade washi!

The store that he visited was Mingei Kagizuru (民芸 かぎづる) in Takayama-shi (高山市), where it's full of traditional artisan crafts.

The washi was flown over nicely rolled up:


The 3 sheets of handmade washi range from thin, medium to heavy weight. Look at the deckled edges and the beautiful kozo fabric laced in the paper. They also smell so, kozo.

Starting from tomorrow, July 15, Braided Tapes will participate in Eye of the Beholder: The Art of the Found Object National Juried Exhibition at the Maryland Federation of Art in Annapolis. The group show will run through August 15.

Maryland Federation of Art
18 State Circle
Annapolis MD, 21401
mdfedart.com

This past weekend I stopped by MoMA to catch the Henri-Cartier Bresson exhibition before it ends this week. There were some book/paper arts on display as well. Let's see what they have.

At Mind and Matter: Alternative Abstractions, 1940s to Now, we have late Louise Bourgeois's Ode à l'oubli (2002), a fabric book with hand-embroideries and lithograph cover:


On the wall, there are the pages from Ode à l'oubli (2004), a fabric book with lithographs, digital prints, machine- and hand-embroidery, and appliqués that she made 2 years later, modeling off the 2002 piece:


According to the gallery label:

Bourgeois made illustrated books, a format that she herself collected, since the late 1940s, incorporating her own texts and those of other authors. This editioned fabric volume is modeled after a unique book she made in 2002 using textiles she had saved throughout her life, including scraps of nightgowns, scarves, and hand towels from her wedding trousseau, monogrammed with her initials. Bourgeois spent her childhood around fabric–her family had a tapestry restoration business—and she used the material for years in sculptures and as the support for prints and drawings.

After nearly a month of hard work, I've taken my new website live yesterday. Now you know why I have been quiet.

I have been wanting to create one single website that combines my art portfolio on StudioCaiLun.com and my design/technology work from parallelbarrel.com, so this is it. I am not sure what I am going to do with the old sites just yet, perhaps retiring them in a few months, or just leave them up with a message of some sort.

To see my new portfolio website, visit dennisyuen.com.

On Thursday I travelled up to Syracuse to speak at Everson Museum of Art about my work that are currently on exhibition. I spoke about my background and bookmaking experience, as well as the the ideas and process behind the two pieces. I shared the stage with fellow artists Wendy Cross and Kelly Roe, who also spoke about their fascinating work.


Before the talk, I managed to take some installation shots at the gallery. Both pieces (Duotone and Rapunzel) were installed inside a case. They were arranged a bit differently than what I had expected, but I was delighted to see them in a different way.


Part of the excitement comes from seeing how they can be arranged differently, they almost become like new work as a result. One side of Rapunzel's cords are more spread out than the other, which creates a kind of energy flow; the two volumes of Duotone are put together back to front, which creates a unique view from all around.

There is also a cellphone audio component with the exhibition, visitors can listen to artists' own view and definition of "artist's books" with their own cellphones. (Gosh, it's definitely odd for me to be part of this, as five years ago I created the Talking Street cellphone walking tour with another company.)

The best of all was to get to meet two of the curators, Debora Ryan at Everson and Peter D. Verheyen, founder of Book Arts Web & Book_Arts-L Listserv!

You can see more installation shots and pictures of Everson on flickr.

Currently, Duotone and Rapunzel are on exhibition at the Everson Museum of Art.

On May 20, 2010, I will be speaking at the Museum about the construction, materials and concepts behind my work. This event is free.

For more information about the exhibition and the talk, visit Everson's website. Hope to see you there!