Self-conscious

Self-Conscious
3- 7.25” x 4.5” x 1.625”
Book Cloth, Plexiglas, Romance Novel
2009

The fact is that poetry is not the books in the library . . .

Poetry is the encounter of the reader with the book,
the discovery of the book.
Jorge Luis Borges from a lecture entitled "Poetry," 1977

Reading is an act of translation and the “book” functions as a convenient package to present information, ideas, and diversion. While in the act of reading, our minds transgress the object delivering the message. I am using the self-reflexive structure of the book to create visual poetry. Instead of ignoring the physical properties of the book I am calling attention to them. By using familiar language or expectations I am asking the reader to consider the book as an integral part of their translation. The structure of the book becomes the poetry.

My newest piece titled Self-Conscious consists of three identical looking books each approximately the size of an “A Format” paperback novel (4.33" x 7.01"). Inside the books house folded pages from one discarded mass-market romance novel.

This piece has just been accepted into a show titled Words Works at the Abecedarian Gallery in Denver. The show runs March 6th -April 18th.

Instead of an album

4x6 print box
book cloth & decorative paper
holds 200+ images

My mom turned 60 in June 2008. We spent a week celebrating her birthday in Northern California. I made sure to document everything we did over the course of the week. Originally I intended to create a photo album of the images, but there were just so many that I was having a difficult time editing them down, plus I wanted to incorporate images that other people had taken. I decided to create a match style print box instead.

Customized boxes are an easy way to put a collection of images together...as easy as a shoe box (which is where most of my images wind up), but more unique and special as you would want a family heirloom to be. I was able to include many more photos in the box then if I had made a small album.

Four reasons why I love boxes:

• The images are easy to share with others, and who cares if they get out of order!
• Editing the images is less time consuming because you potentially can include more.
  
• It is cost effective if you already have the images printed!
• A custom box can be a beautiful and unique heirloom piece to pass on.
  

I am starting to have clients come to me who have images they would like to preserve or extra images that did not make it into the album. Put them in a box!