Flag Books with Karen Hanmer
BAG Workshop
February 13-14, 2010 | 10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Flag Books Interplay of Image & Text with Karen Hanmer, Saturday & Sunday, February 13-14, 2010, 10:00AM - 5:00PM
Chicago binder, book & installation artist Karen Hanmer’s intimate, playful works fragment & layer text & image to intertwine memory, cultural history & the history of science. Her work weds the ancient act of book binding with the high tech use of the computer to aid her process. The intimate scale & the gestures of exploration required to travel through each piece evoke the experience of looking through an album, a diary, or the belongings of a loved one. However, her works often take the forms of games or puzzles, & many include witty texts.
The foundation of Hedi Kyle's deceptively small & simple book "flag book" structure is an accordion folded spine. Flaps attached to both sides of each of the spine’s “mountain” folds allow the artist to fragment & layer a number of complementary or contrasting images & narratives. When the flag book spine is pulled fully open, the fragmented images on the flaps come together to create a large, panoramic image. This transformation is accompanied by a delightful flapping sound. The spine & covers provide opportunities for additional imagery.
In this two day workshop, students will make two different styles of flag book. For both styles a sample will be made from kits provided by the instructor, plus a more finished book with students’ imagery & hand written text will be made for one or both as time permits.
Students will experiment with complementary & contrasting text & images. The class will discuss the effects of different spine & page dimensions, direction of motion, & which images will be most successful for different book styles. Students will learn a tidy, non adhesive method of covering boards & use a jig to facilitate quicker, more precise assembly.
Before creating books using their own text & imagery, students will review & discuss books from the instructor’s collection of books by other artists, as well as discuss the success & possibilities for improvement of their book models. The instructor will stress the importance of prototype construction & critical thinking at the onset of a project.
While this is not a computer class, digital printing & setting up PhotoShop templates for pages, covers & spines will be demonstrated. This workshop is appropriate for adults of all skill levels.
The cost of the workshop will be $150.00 for BAG members & $200.00 for non-BAG members & will have a materials fee of $35. The workshop will be limited to 12 participants. As always, sign up is first come, first served with those beyond the one-day mail of Seattle getting some leeway on the realities of mail delivery. Also BAG members get priority for this workshop as for all others. Participants will get a confirmation email that will tell you what to bring. The class will be held Saturday & Sunday on the University of Washington campus, in the Maps/Special Collections Classroom 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
A downloadable form to sign up for the workshop will soon be added to this announcement.
Presented by The Book Arts Guild & The University of Washington Libraries.
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