Monday, January 3, 2011

the book, revisited

so why does this book speak so to me? the wonderful paper. it's handmade, tough and nicely off white. the evidence of a hand, and it's probably a man's hand, because the info says it's a clergyman's book. the pages were cut or torn in many different shapes. there is evidence of at least two hands, maybe more. so scraps could have been bound into this. several of you noticed the vulva imagery. and there's a fish, too. there's evidence that there were several odd shapes put together. why? were the rest of the sheets of paper used for something more important? can you read any of it? remember it would have been written with an ink pen, perhaps a quill. and i can see the images from two movies, shakespeare in love and eight mile. think of eminem writing on scraps and a virile william writing with messy ink fingers. add in a book artist and there you are!
and then i remembered a weird little silk thread and abaca book i made long ago.
maybe it contains lines of spirit thinking.
or maybe those lines are ephemeral
 like in the ice from my walk today
or maybe both.

10 comments:

  1. i LOVE the way you examine and consider and reconsider things! esp in this world that showers X with attention and then drops it immediately for Y. i remember that book of yours, too! i saw the picture and remembered where i hung it in my "studio" in korea at the language institute where i had private tutoring. it looks much happier on your wood table than in that tiny room in a district full of noisy bars!

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  2. --is it possible that the paper was first used to make paper patterns and then repurposed to add pages to the book? just a thought.

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  3. so that's what it is! there was something about the handwriting. and it was written with a quill

    when in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes......
    definitely william resonances

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  4. aimee-i like the idea of this little funny book in the bar district.
    jean-i thought the same, but didn't quite know how to phrase it. i was thinking these might be the leftovers from the cutting out of patterns, but i like the idea of retired pattern pieces better.
    neki-i remember the scenes from those two movies of these young men frantically writing between lovers and other "activities".

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  5. Amazing book! I posted it on my Tumblr blog a short while ago and often wonder about it.

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  6. i see fingers.... connectors. oh how fine!

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  7. love that old silk buttonhole twist.

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  8. beautiful connection and mystery, Velma.
    Thanks for showing your silk book and the ice along with it.
    I'd love to handle the old shaped touched so many times pages.

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  9. Hi Velma - it seems as if the pages were cut and then written on - the writing aligns too beautifully with the edges. The numbering confuses me a bit; but then maybe I just can't decipher it well enough. I have no chance of reading it! Your red circle book is delicious and reaches out to be held and turned.Your words "lines of spirit thinking" is a beautiful expression, and one for me to ponder further, thanks.

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  10. --I keep coming back to "visit" the book. The page numbering is interesting--is it possible that it was written on as loose pieces of precious paper and numbered to keep them in order. Then as the number of papers grew they were bound? Fascinating.

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