Content and Structure in the Book Arts

I recently contributed an article to Book Arts arts du livre, a semi-annual publication by the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild. In it, I speak about one aspect of artist books that I tend to focus on: the relationship between content and structure, and the relevance of communicating a story through the medium.

Upon making my first book to combine a series of drawing, painting and writing, I was unaware of the genre completely. Gradually, I discovered this great world of artist books and the people who make them – some extremely skilled in the traditional art of bookbinding, some using innovative techniques and structures, and some exploring the future of the book itself.

Read the full article here!

What is held in memory, artist book, 2011. all text and images © Maureen Piggins 2011

Original painting and poetry, found frame, photograph, Japanese paper Dimensions: 6.5″w, 8.5″h, 6.25″d Price: $500 Cdn, please enquire at maureen@maureenpiggins.com

ARTIST STATEMENT: “What is held in memory” refers both to a specific event and to the nature of how we retain memories themselves. Shortly before his death, I took my father outside for some air in the courtyard garden of his rest home. It was a brilliantly sunny day, full of colour and birdsong – a rare moment of peace that I could tell he enjoyed very much. When I reflect upon this time, a blur of flowers and light is the predominant memory – as seen in the abstract painting inside the box of the frame. A poem also unfolds from the center, while a photograph of my father, a more literal representation of that day, covers the outside. The traditional place of the framed photograph as momento is relocated to the outside, while a more subjective interpretation of events (what is actually kept in memory) is given prominence.

Conceived for “The New Book”, the fifth Festival of Artists’ Book and Small Editions 2012, Barcelona, Spain.

Dementia, artist book, 2011. all text and images © Maureen Piggins 2011 installation photos: Mette-Sofie Ambeck

Hand bound giclée on archival paper, japanese paper, waxed string, metal loops and eyelets, acrylic paint on canvas closed: 5.5″w x 7.5″h; open 15″w x 7.5″h Price: $500 Cdn, please enquire at maureen@maureenpiggins.com

ARTIST STATEMENT: Much of my work in the last two years has explored the subject of memory and identity as seen through the lens of dementia. My father suffered from vascular dementia, and in the last years of his life, I learned to honour the memory of a life partially remembered while also accepting a “new” person that was, and was not, my father. The format of the hanging blind is a symbol for this – a fragmented picture of what was hidden by the illness. One side features a drawing of my father, while each strip on the other contains one line of a poem, each line beginning with one of the letters in the word “dementia”. Identity, memory, grief and time are uncertain; they are “in the air”.

Conceived for “In the air”, the fourth Doverodde Book Arts Festival, 2011, Hurup Thy, Denmark.

Echo limited edition bookmarks, 2011. All text and images © Maureen Piggins 2011

Hand bound two-sided signed edition of 100 giclée bookmarks on Hahnemühle paper. Incorporates images and text from 2009 artist book, Echo.

Dimensions: 2.25”w x 6”h

ARTIST STATEMENT: This set of bookmarks was created for Sarah Bodman’s “Bookmarks IX Infiltrating the Library System 2011-2012″, the ninth is a series of touring exhibitions organized by Sarah at the University of Western England’s Fine Print Research Centre. Visit the Bookmarks page to see other artists in the series!

Embalm, artist book, 2011. All text and images © Maureen Piggins 2011

Unique artist book, hand bound wooden tablets joined by waxed thread Cedar, laminate, encaustic (beeswax), archival inkjets of original poem and charcoal drawing. Dimensions: 7.25”h x 5.5”w x 0.75”d Price: $500 Cdn, please enquire at maureen@maureenpiggins.com

ARTIST STATEMENT: “Embalm” is based on the theme of the wax tablet, a traditional memory aid and method of note taking. It also borrows from the practise of using beeswax to embalm the dead. The title is shaped in waxed thread coated in beeswax, the string being a motif for remembering. The panels hold a poem and image of my father, with the right side “broken” into two parts – the two halves representing two kinds of deaths – one figurative, the other physical. The book is an act of memory while also representing the deterioration of personality and memory from dementia.

E, artist book, 2010. all text and images © Maureen Piggins 2010 photograph of my father, Erwin Hegenberg, credit unknown, circa 1948

3-panel folded and hand-sewn handkerchief, inkjet transfers, waxed string closed: 5.5″w x 7.5″h; open 15″w x 7.5″h

ARTIST STATEMENT: My father, Erwin Hegenberg, died in 2005 from health complications related to vascular dementia. As time and memory became tangled and transient for him, I saw a person that was, and was not, my father – a brother who mistook me for a sister, a soldier who witnessed unspeakable acts, and a man who spent countless hours behind an office desk. The moments when he remained my dad were precious and tragic in their clarity, and brought close the mundane that we often treasure too late. His old, stained hankie (kept crumbled in a pocket and used with a sounding blast that always startled me from any corner of our small house) is a symbol of this – a piece of cloth that attains the relic status of grief, which time and acceptance can eventually transform back into a simple object.

The cover shows a drawing of my father during his illness, while a length of string encircles his monogram “E” – an act of remembrance, a tied piece of string around a finger, an attempt for him to maintain his identity and mine to remember it. The loose, tangled string alongside is an unravelling of this – a loss of memories and the premature loss of a loved one to dementia.

The text on the inside front cover refers to the sound that I can still hear, the forceful blow that always accompanied the use of the hankie. “A sound startling and stong…” The words face a photograph of my dad as a strong and confident young man in his prime. When fully open, the final text is revealed alongside another drawing of my father, this one faint and fleeting, like memory “… your mind stained in habit even as you forget me.” Unravelled string snakes in and around the words and image. The verse recalls the habits that often remain during dementia – the daily, repeated actions of living – while loved ones and time are forgotten.

Conceived for “The Hankie Project”, curated and created by Julie Barratt, Barratt Galleries, Alstonville, NSW, Australia. Please visit the hankie project to learn more.

Dear Bridgett, artist book, 2010. Hand bound, 5-panel, double-sided French fold accordion gicleé on Hahnemuhle paper, in a hand bound gicleé envelope on Hahnemuhle paper. Archival quality, open edition. Measurements: Envelope: 9.5″w x 7″h; Accordion book: closed: 8.75″w x 6″h; extended: 39.25″w x 6″h Price: $500 Cdn; available on commission, Please enquire at maureen@maureenpiggins.com

ARTIST STATEMENT: After my father’s death, I discovered a box of letters written to my mother one year after they were married. They were written by him during a trip to his birthplace, Velbert, Germany, from which he emigrated to Canada after WW2. He was returning to visit his family for what he suspected would be his last visit with his aging mother. It was his first trip away from my mother.

The box contained both postcards and letters – a dichotomy of the public and the private; the public places and common language of postcards that we use to mark our travels, and the private sentiments we impart to loved ones in letters from places far away.

I have used photographs taken during the trip to reflect specific places he visited while in Germany, and have picked out both intimate and everyday phrases from the letters to weave into these images. The intention is to reflect the unseen presence these places now held for him, that of my mother waiting back home – a juxtaposition of public and private, memory, absence and place.

Conceived for curated exhibition Place of Interest, Doverodde Book Festival, Hyrup Thy, Denmark.

Artist and curator Elisa Pellacani organized the third annual Barcelona “Artist Book Festival 2010: HUMAN BOOK”, in conjunction with ILDE – Barcelona Association of Book Artists. The festival took place in the Plaza Sant Just, and then travelled to the Loring Art book store in Barcelona. I was pleased to have “Echo” as part of the festival.

A selection of works travelled to the Biblioteca di Brugherio (near Milan, Italy) – 25 books and 21 Sylvia Gutiérrez Sànchez’s photographs from the catalogue “Human Book”. Sylvia took a great shot of “Echo” for this exhibition and the architecture of the space was stunning. Have a look:

3rd Annual Artist Book Festival: Human Book April 2010, Barcelona

3rd Annual Artist Book Festival: Human Book April 2010, Barcelona.

Pagine Uniche, Milan, Italy

Pagine Uniche, Milan, Italy

Pagine Uniche, Milan, Italy

Swedish curators Joanna Sandell and Pia Sandström have put together a wonderful exhibition of artist books, writing, text objects and installations for “Labyrint 09, Writings and Observations”. I was happy to send “Echo” to them and be part of this international event! Echo is now part of the permanent archive of Labyrint, which will go on travelling exhibition.

Hand Held is a small artist-run gallery in the heart of Melbourne that specializes in small objects, book arts and installations. Their show, Bill Posters 2nd Annual Poster and Post Card exhibition, featured three limited edition giclée posters from Echo as well as the book itself.

Two views of the show:

Echo posters and book at Hand Held Gallery, Melbourne

Echo posters and book at Hand Held Gallery, Melbourne