Week 65: 9th – 15th December
After my work with flexagons I decided to focus a bit more on paper based structures that I could incorporate into my book objects. I began by conducting a library search for related terms, which included paper folding, paper craft, origami, etc, fully expecting them to turn up within the art section of the library. However, my discoveries actually revealed much more about the way that I was approaching my work than I’d realised. In fact, most of the books related to paper were classified under textiles, with a few veering into mathematics. This realisation of paper as material rather than concept or conduit for ideas, highlighted my previous neglect of paper as prima materia in my work.
Although the conceptual elements are important to me and to the work, they in fact stem from the associations created by and through the material and it was a good reminder to work out from the material rather than merely applying theories and concepts to it, or using it as a support for the image/text. Ideas about paper as material and concept are the subject of a number of artists work and these thoughts reminded me of an exhibition I’d seen at Manchester Art Gallery back in 2012.
The First Cut
The First Cut exhibition took the medium of paper and its associations as a point of departure, in order to explore the ways in which artists create works from this traditionally ephemeral material. Mixing big name artists such as Kara Walker, Peter Callesen and Rob Ryan, with local talent, Andrew Singleton and Nicola Dale, the show explored themes relating to the different uses of paper in art and society.
As the introduction to the exhibition explains: ‘31 international artists who cut, sculpt and manipulate paper, transform this humble material into fantastical works of art for our stunning new exhibition. Wonder at giant sculptures inspired by far-away galaxies that spiral from the wall, explore a walk-through forest of paper trees and marvel at miniature worlds that explode from vintage staple boxes or emerge from the page of a book. Flocks of birds and butterflies cut from maps appear alongside artworks that feature dark fairytale imagery. Guns and grenades fashioned from paper currency and sinister silhouettes comment on social, political and economic issues.’
Exhibition themes
Beginning with the theme Imaginary Worlds, artists created works that explored the architecture of the gallery space as well as creating new environments through the use of installation. Exploring concepts of time, motion, engineering, consumerism, environmentalism, nature and artifice, artists produced a range of works including papercuts, sculpture and kinetic art. Following this, the Off the Page section referenced both the book as source material for the found paper used in the works, as well as the possibilities for books to be increasingly usurped by digital technologies.* Artists transformed books such as encyclopaedias, pulp fiction, classic literature, artist’s monographs, and pornographic magazines in order to create new works of art.
Finally, Mapping new Territories explored not only geographical boundaries, but also the histories and currencies associated with those places. As well as re-using and creating maps of real and imagined places, the works also depicted the violence of colonialism and global politics through the use of cut paper silhouettes of slavers and origami guns made from dollar bills. The use of paper in artworks, particularly large-scale installation, often seems to create genuine wonder for the dexterity and patience of the artist. It is also a possibility that this sort of reaction is exacerbated by the fragility or (lack of) longevity of the material. Could this be something that I could build into my books or would it make people too nervous about damaging them?
*This issue seems to come up a lot in debates around books and book art. However, I feel that the relationship between the use of books and the use of the internet and digital is usually only connected through written content, (and even then creates a different user experience). Therefore, each medium has unique abilities with which to supplement the other.
Further reading: http://www.creativetourist.com/articles/art/manchester/the-first-cut-paper-cutting-artists-at-manchester-art-gallery/
Histories of reading in relation to digital: http://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3340/2985
