Artist Books: Tiers Asunder

Tiers Asunder_1 - 5,  2017.  Artist Books: intaglio & letterpress prints on acid
stained kitikata paper, book board & cloth, cave paper and miscellaneous
papers bound in drum leaf book structure.

Tiers Asunder was inspired by a photograph that I found rummaging through family heirloom photo albums―an image of an aircraft carrier, the Enterprise, on which my grandfather was one of its captains during WWII.  During his term, a Kami Kazi pilot (whose childhood nickname was Eyeballs) bombed the carrier.  The pilot died with 13 others that day. The photo documents the hole in the carrier's deck from the explosion with the crew standing by.  The image held me as I reflected on the space created by the destructive act—an opening for exploration and a suggestion on how to proceed with the work. My intent was not to make an artist book about this narrative but to use elements of it to create an experience.

Process is content. To speak to the destructive act, I intentionally dirtied the papers for the book pages using a process I coined "negative conservation".  I recalled once watching a paper conservator remove acid stains from artwork―a washing process that left acid tide lines on the support material. I saw the byproduct of the practice as a way to stain the kitikata papers for this book.

addendum:

While binding book #3, glue seeped through and soiled the end sheets.  Unexpected, unintended, what I now refer to as an ath'wart, and a pause, I asked, "How does this mark contribute to the whole?" I thank judi goldberg for use of her words*—and response to my question.

*all ways know―

ing the right of it some

times spoils the

view

"When a Book Becomes An Artist Book"

I will be presenting this talk at the Iota Printshop

on Saturday, Sept 24th from 3pm to 5pm. 

Details below:

http://northbayletterpressarts.org/event/brooke-holve-talk/

I couldn't help myself!

LET IT BE (here)

 AND/BUT

    LET IT BE (there)

Credits:

Talk Back letterpress broadside by Judi Goldberg & Eric Johnson

Once We Knew letterpress broadside by Judi Goldberg

outwith construction by Brooke Holve (from Cuts Make You. exhibition at the Morris Graves Art Museum)

"Cuts Make You": a process played out

Early this year, I completed a collection of five artists books, entitled "Cuts Make You" in response to my solo exhibition, Cuttings, at Risk Press Gallery (Sebastopol) in October of 2013.   For the exhibition, I installed an empty scroll book, inviting those who attended to mark it with blue masking tape and blue ink pens (refer to image above).  Upon the closing of the exhibit, the unfurling revealed a motley but contained collection of writing, scribbles, lines, tape and words. These marks became the prima materia for Cuts Make You.

Upon the closing of the exhibit, I cut up, printed upon and cut into the scroll, applying the similar methods that attendees used during the exhibit. Applying tape randomly to the surfaces, I printed over it with a die cut of the floor plan of the gallery to reference the place of the exhibit. Over and on the masked tyvek, I printed to cut out new spaces. Cutting and printing generated pages and ideas. The result is a series of books that hold and reference the archival and ephemeral of the exhibit.

Haystack 'overlooked': Stonington Public Library.

Stonington Public Library.

As a way to process and document my experience at Haystack last summer, I made 3 artist books which I hoped might capture a bit of my time there, the surrounding place as well as experiences in the studio.  The books are a collection of 'sorts'.  They are made from materials that I gathered: book pages from the Deer Isle dump, others from my CA. studio; old Maine maps purchased from Karna's shop in Belfast, ME;  stone images, laser cut and printed onto wood veneer and book pages; milk paint, encaustic wax and coffee sticks from the Haystack dining hall.

Upon reviewing the colophon that I had written, I realized that I had repeated the word, "overlooking" several times.  The word suggested to me that I rethink what I was making.  My direction shifted and the word, "overlook" became a focus.

These books are a beginning of an exploration of form with the word, "overlook" as a focus.

More on "The Poetry of Printing" at RiskPress

"The Poetry of Printing"

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exhibition runs till February 23rd at RiskPress Gallery in Sebastopol.  The gallery hours are Tues - Sunday, 11 - 7 and I will be sitting the gallery on Wednesdays from 11 - 3.  Stop by if you are in the area.

There also is a poetry reading,  A Speak Easy - Sounds in Print,  on February 16th, 2 - 4 and printing demos every Friday afternoon.

RiskPress Gallery  7345 Healdsburg Ave. Sebastopol, CA 95472

Iota's "The Poetry of Printing" at RiskPress

Iotians are busy this month preparing for the exhibit in February. Mark your calendar!

Iota Press & Co-op present:

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The Poetry of Printing

Featuring letterpress works by Megan A. Arnold, Serena Coltrane-Briscoe, Lyn Dillin, Lucille Friesen, Judi Goldberg, CK Itamura, Eric Johnson, Maia Kobabe, Tiana Krahn, Tami Lovett, Lin Max, Katie Nealon, Birgit Neilsen, Micah Schwaberow, Ash Weiss and me.

February 1 - 23, 2014

Opening Reception: Feb 1,  3 - 7

Love Letter Writing:  Feb 6,  5 - 9

A Speak Easy - Sounds in Print: Feb 16, 2 -4

Printing demos every Friday afternoon

Gallery Hours  11 - 7    Tues - Sun

RiskPress  Gallery  7345 Healdsburg Ave. Sebastopol, CA 95472  Contact: iota@sonic.net

Please stop by and be prepared to experience a wonderful exhibit!

"Cuts Make You": a process playing out

2013

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2013

ends with a scroll

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unfurled to display

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the raw material

for the making of a book in 2014

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Back to the presses at Iota

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More to come

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'Cuttings' Opens

I was touched by all of you who came to celebrate the opening of Cuttings.    A festive evening and many thank yous are in order. Special thanks to Lin Max for her support, many hours of help with the installation and opening festivities.  Also thank yous to Eric for his assistance with lighting, Hope, Deborah, Sean, Sally, Laurie, Steph, Satri and Rich for their help with and at the reception. And finally to Charlie and Kevin, proprietors of RiskPress, for offering an alternative gallery space to artists in this county.  We are fortunate for their patronage and generosity.

The work is up. Some have sold and still many days left for viewing, walks and talk.  Here are a few glimpses of what you will see.

You can learn more about this exhibit on Satri Pencak's blog at www.satripecak.com/

And finally come to the first walk this Sunday, Oct 13th  at 1:00.  Note the prompt for this walk:  walking like reading like constructing If you can't come to this walk, there will be others on Sundays,  Oct 20th and 27th.

RiskPress Gallery is located on 7345 Healdsburg Avenue Sebastopol, CA 95472.  Gallery Hours: Wed, Fri, Sat, Sun.  11-6  & by appointment 707 494-8534

'Cutting' as Process, Form & Making

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'Cutting' is on my mind as I prepare for the 'Cuttings' exhibition.  In an earlier post, I wrote that I have been letterpress printing at Iota Press--printing the matrix for a book that I am calling "Cuts Make You".  As a way to brainstorm for it,  I have been printing synonyms for  'cut'.  The list is getting longer;  here is a selection:  clip, incise, sever, saw, select, dissect, section, fragment, bisect, survey, amputate, behead, miter, dice, chop, hurt, edit, wound, part, blinks, focus, prune slice, die, edged, snippet, excise, shun, snip, trim, crop, divide, piece, mutilate, lop, mince, frame, cleft, segment, slit, split, blaze, truncate, curtail, rift, curt, decapitate, shear, partition, trim.  Post if you should come up with more words!

Iceland Travels:

Back to Iceland,  a land of elemental forces in shape of volcanoes, geysers, glaciers, rivers, waterfalls, ice and wind.   It's a  land that is continually making and unmaking itself.

Rebecca Solnit in her latest book, The Faraway Nearby, wrote that "These are the forces that will flourish no matter what goes extinct, where the poisons migrate, and how the weather changes. The sun will rise, the winds will blow, the waves will lick the shore, the earth will tilt on its axis so that there is more light in summer, less in winter, rains and snows will fall, if not as they used to, and the waters will turn to solid ice and melt again. This is the world that existed before life and will exist after us."

 Back to the studio:

As I explore 'cutting' as process and form, I am interested in how I might apply this process to a material and arrive at a form that refers back to its making. This is a focus at the moment and I was inspired by the basalt formations in Iceland.  More to come.....