The art of book-making is almost as ancient as writing itself. For thousands of years human beings have been designing scrolls and manuscripts and binding pages together to contain the written word. This past July, art students at USM had an opportunity to learn some of these skills as part of the week-long 200-level Book Arts Program at the Stone House, a USM facility in Freeport. On Wednesday, an exhibit of the work that the students created during the session opened on the sixth floor of the Glickman Library in Portland.
The books on display are not the typical collections of information that we expect from books: they are pieces of art that use the book as a visual expression of an idea. Just as some artists use paint or clay to express an idea, book artists use the myriad skills that comprise the medium of book-making to convey their thoughts, feelings and aesthetic concepts.
The wide range of techniques that the students learned from the nine different instructors that they worked with over the course of the program is evident in the exhibit. These techniques include bookbinding, creating movable parts for books, inventing book structures and printmaking. While some of the books have simple, stand-alone accordion-style designs others are elaborate wooden structures with pages that unfold.? The decoration methods vary depending on the subject of the book. Some incorporate found elements like photographs and metal house numbers. Others feature printed material and collage.?
The exhibit will be on display through Oct. 14 during regular library hours.? On Wednesday, Sept. 23, there will be a panel discussion with three book experts in the Special Events room on the fourth floor of the Glickman library at 4p.m. followed by a reception. For more information, contact Rebecca Goodale at 228-8014.