Hedi Kyle workshop

I was a little sad to miss the NY Artist's Book Fair this past weekend, BUT I was lucky enough to assist with Hedi Kyle's workshop at the Garage Annex School for Book Arts instead! These are pictures from the numerous preservation enclosures we constructed in only two days. It was an amazing weekend and I'm so glad I got to be there, especially because she said she won't be doing too many more workshops in the future. Hedi Kyle has an amazing mind for creating complex structures through simple means. During the workshop, she told us that she does at least a half hour of paper folding a day to keep practiced. It pays off in her book forms which are sometimes created without a bit of glue--just pure paper engineering.

Novas

A few weeks ago I finished binding 300 chapbooks for Bateau Press. This past Sunday evening, I attended a reading of the chapbook, Novas by Ryan Flaherty. It is always exciting to see a project completed, but I especially enjoy attending readings of books that I work on because I have come to know the written words in a very intimate way. In addition to binding Novas, I digitally typeset the poems and designed the letterpress printed cover. I have designed and printed four covers for Bateau Press and will be working on more in the upcoming year. Bateau has a great new website, too.

New Type

This is brand new metal type still in its package from the Bauer Type Foundry. The Bauer Type Foundry operated from 1837 to 1972 in Frankfurt, Germany. That puts the age of these unopened font sets at approximately 35 years. I've recently purchased several brand new (old) packages of foundry type for use in my Kensol stamping press. You can see the chase I use here for the Kensol and how I set the type. Using metal type (whether it is brass or foundry type) to stamp on bookcloth, paper or leather, is incredibly satisfying. That is why these neat little faded red packages all stacked together give me a slight rush. I am strange--I know this.

Artist's Book spread in Artforum

Over the past couple of years, I have noticed Artforum's willingness to publish reviews of book-related artwork. This makes me very hopeful about the position of artist's books today in the overall contemporary art scene.

In the October 2008 issue of Artforum, there is a substantial spread on the artist's book Sabotage by Charline von Heyl. The full text of the article with images is at the Artforum website. Here is the link: http://artforum.com/inprint/issue=200808&id=21139