Creative Book Design- Part Four: Altered books -Exercise 4: Collating and binding
Reflect, evaluate and rework
Select and collate
Binding
I chose the word ‘regardless’ which I felt represented the poem as a whole, it’s definition being:
despite the prevailing circumstances.
"they were determined to carry on regardless"
without regard or consideration for.
"the allowance is paid regardless of age or income"
I distressed the word by printing it out multiple times and scraping sharp objects against the paper. I ripped the end of the word off, physically showing there being ‘less’ using tape.
The tape represents the future and modernism. I aimed for this image to present the unstoppable and inevitable force of industrialisation and the difference in wealth between classes. Music is also something that brings people together and could refer to ‘bridging the gap’.
The image of a close up face began as an image of a lady wearing pearls and a hat (the bourgeoise) but as I manipulated the image further it became less distinct. The image ended up having a more sinister feel that I intended, but I feel that this works well in representing the more nihilistic/Marxist views of Kamensky.
This is an image of a policeman looking onto a burning vehicle with rubble across the road.
I felt that it represented some people of power not caring for the dispossessed or in need. It also could show revolution and change.
I came across a close up portrait of a person in a hat which I felt could represent the bourgeoise well. By removing the face through burning I wanted it to represent some peoples blindness to issues around them, or more cynically how people do not care for others, which is a feeling I got from Kamensky’s ‘Tango with cows’.
This collage was the opposite of the last, I was trying to present the middle-upper class attempting to relate it to modernism, including a ripped package showing a description of a product across the woman’s eyes. I feel as if this was an improvement on the last collage but analog collage is an area that I would like to continue further and improve upon.
I tried to present similar ideas with this next image. I am not very pleased with the outcome but there are elements that I like such as the texture of the bottom left hand corner.
I chose an image of a statues face to represent the past, using tape to cover their eyes making them blind to the future. I wanted to show a feeling that I think Kamensky displayed within the poem of a fear of the future.
This image was a collage created from printed/spray painted paper and a diagram from an old car manual.
The choice of orange, black and the aged paper I felt related to ‘Tango with cows’ combining old with new (aged paper with a brighter colour). The orange also refers to the line ‘kings of orange groves’.
I aimed to create an expressionist image representing the division (shown through ripped paper) between classes and the climate prior to the Russian revolution.
The car manual was a reference to the working class and the complicated nature of it combined with simple coloured paper.
The bridge is quite an obvious image to use to show the bridging of the gap, referring to ‘and to build bridges’. Despite this I felt that it was a strong image to use and liked the clear black graphic against the white page. The negative space allows there to be room for movement or consideration between people.
Similarly this image of close up windows was referring to modernism, but also class with the hierarchy of windows being higher or lower than others.
The building itself and idea of flats/apartments shows a mass of people living on top of each other in cities in search for work etc.
‘The tears of crimson girls’ was a line that stood out to me, having biblical references as well as a darker/nihilistic feel by imagining tears of someone.
I used a marker that had nearly ran out of ink to achieve a more interesting hand written text, which fitted to the aesthetic of the other black/white graphics.
This image began as a collage with acetate layered on top of it of spray painted text. After editing in Photoshop the final image created was interesting and had a more chaotic feel which I felt was suited to the poem, in particular the last half of the 2nd stanza.
This collage was an attempt to represent the working class and being broken apart by work. I wasn’t particularly pleased with the outcome but there are elements that are interesting. I tried to create a balance in the collage, perhaps this could have been improved by using more orange on the opposite side.
I took the phrase ‘bovine jealousy’ from the poem and tried to present this in a collage style. I printed a diagram of some mushrooms referring to an altered state of mind and layered a portrait on top. I used tape to rip across the face of the woman to show blindness from jealousy.
These 2 collages were an abstract attempt at representing the key themes that I drew from ‘Tango with cows’ being classism and a sense of nihilism about the future.
I used imagery of found posters and technical drawings as the main component of the collages, using paint and acetone printing methods to add other imagery/gestures.
I used a technical drawing to represent modernism and the rise of technology at the top (above the eyes as if a part of their mind/peoples main goal). The eyes are looking down on rubble within a street, I aimed to present a nihilistic view of technology/modernism, in an attempt to relate the poem to problems of today.
I came across a nice style of binding called the ‘Saddle Stitch’ when browsing through their Youtube channel. This looked great for a book with less signatures.
To create my book I looked at various binding techniques. I quite liked the tactile appearance of the sewn spine I explored in exercise 3 and wanted to experiment further with a ‘standard’ book form.
I initially looked at a ‘Kettle stitch’ which looked very interesting. An issue was that this was a method to bind multiple signatures and my book would not be very thick. Perhaps this could be a method I try in the final assignment.
I tried the saddle stitch using standard copy paper and it worked well! The pages stayed bound together and the stitching itself looked smart. When considering this in the context of the poem and what it can ‘add’ in terms or concept to the book I was unsure.
I attempted binding some some 150gsm paper together using pva glue. According to the video this works better with thicker paper.
This method was very affective, which was a suprise to me. I was unsure if my method of trapping the paper in a draw would suffice instead of a book binder. I really liked the clean finish to this, and the fact that the individual pages could be seen from the spine.
I wasn’t happy with my initial layout of the book so I went back and edited in Indesign. In particular I wanted ‘Regardless’ and ‘Tango’ together at the end. To represent bridging the gap between classes, and dancing regardless.
When considering how I wanted my book to come across and the context of ‘Tango of the cows’ I liked a previous binding method I had used which is simple, but affective; Stapling.
I really like the metal showing on the edges and insides of the book, giving it a magazine feel. The metal appealed to me when considering the themes of modernism and industrialisation explored throughout the poem. The staples gave it a more tactile and home made feel, which again I aimed to be a ‘nod’ towards classism.
Final:
When printing my final designs I decided to use copy paper over a 150gsm paper I tried initially. With the copy paper you can slightly see elements from the previous page through it. This created some happy accidents and interesting visuals, especially of the back page with the bridge and the image behind. The collage with ‘tango’ behind it also turned out interesting.
