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.

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

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.

Today is the last day of this year's National Poetry Month. In 2007 Morry and I created the piece Touch, Listen to celebrate NPM that year. A little bit of reminiscence:

Read about Touch, Listen and then a little bit more about Touch, Listen. And don't forget to call the phone number to hear a poem being read to you on the phone: then you get to celebrate NPM yourself as well.

As you may already know from my Facebook and Twitter updates, I have two pieces accepted into Everson Museum of Art for the coming Fit to Be Bound, part of Everson's Biennial alternative, The Edge of Art: New York State Artist Series.

First of all, there is Rapunzel. I couldn't be more proud and honored that it is featured on Everson's website:


Then, there is Duotone. I simply love this piece. Need I say more? I am simply overjoyed to have both of them in the show.

Fit to Be Bound will open next month, from April 17 to July 11 at the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse, NY. Hope to see you there!

Throughout the month of December last year, I was working on a piece that I hoped would help me to try working in an obsessive mode. Rapunzel involved cutting up about half a mile of cotton twine into 3- to 4-feet pieces, and gluing them individually onto a two-needle coptic bound book. If stretched wide, it spans about 7 feet, and is definitely the largest piece I've done so far.

Rapunzel is the first piece in a series that re-tells familiar children stories though books, but only through the physicality of these books. Every material in this book is white (or off-white), so the viewer is confronted with its physical form, and forced to address it. Embodied into its binding and form, the essence of Rapunzel can be seen and touched through the physical book.

See more pictures of Rapunzel on Studio CaiLun.

These books have been sitting around for a little bit over a year, waiting patiently for their home. I've finally made a box to put them in. They seem kinda happy, don't they?

First of all, album #1 - the pale brown/maroon piece, with a pair of long, thick ribbons, that have to be unraveled upon opening:


Let's see how the bride and groom unraveled the long ribbons:


Then there is album #2, blue piece that has an extra long ribbon that wraps around the album many times:


Read previous posts:
Two albums - Part 4: Finishing the covers with ribbons
Two albums - Part 3: Preparing the covers
Two albums - Part 2: Preparing the accordion spine
Two albums - Part 1: Preparing the sections