“Last Night” was produced as part of Edition #4 of Book+Art+Object–a unique project that I stumbled upon one day that is part exchange, part collaboration. (For more information, visit their blog, which documents the 100 books made for this year’s exchange.) In response to Sarah Bodman’s project “An Exercise for Kurt Johannessen,” the BAO group divvied up the 100 titles of her poems to be used as jumping off points for an array of handmade books. I drew the title “Last Night.” Here is how it started:
I wanted this book to tell a story without words. One day this image came to me, certainly reminiscent of the Greek tale of Lailaps and the Teumissian fox. (I’m not sure why I’m so hung up on that story lately, but it keeps seeping into my waking life.) I’ve also been stuck on the boustrophedon structure lately, and how it opens in a puzzle-like way and then elegantly collapses. It seems complicated at first, and then so simple–maybe like this myth.
Sidebar: When my fella looked at this book, he said, “I can’t tell if she’s hiding from him, or just waiting. That expression on her face is a bit coy.” And I admit, I sort of liked that idea. Is she hiding or waiting? She never told me.
The book is comprised of one single-sheet linoleum block print, approximately 12″ x 17″, which then folds down to nearly 4″ x 4.5″. Above is the uncut print. The covers were letterpress printed using wood type, and the slip case was made using the luxe handmade Cave paper (indigo). The crescent moon is done with pouchoir.
Ten copies of “Last Night” were made for the exchange with my BAO group. I’m planning to do a second, larger edition using Japanese paper. Look for those soon–and contact me if you’d like to reserve a copy. For more details about the book and my process, view my post on the BAO in-progress page.
