Monday, July 30, 2012

Path Through the Brambles



Okay then – here’s the story of my last talk held last Wednesday night at the Highland Square library, the one that left me wired like an electric eel. I showed up with a huge hunch that something different was about to happen, but no clue as to what. So when the first person in the door could have been at any of the other talks I’d given and fit right in I was taken aback. She was maybe seventy-something, a woman married to a collector who was thinking about maybe selling his  treasures – or not.  Wham!  A strange amalgam of mingled disappointment and relief cascaded over me, but it couldn’t have lasted longer than a nanosecond because right  behind her a whirlwind  blew in and took seats in the front row. Twenty-somethings, THREE of them,  two girls and a guy,  plus another girl on the opposite side of the room seated next to a woman about my age who emitted such good vibes I felt like I knew her.

Goodbye pink note cards with the planned talk – goodbye, goodbye for the third and final time. No way did these people want to hear about collecting books and paper, but if not that, then WHAT? I’d laid out the ephemera and they seemed to groove on it some, so I started with that and it went pretty well for maybe fifteen minutes. I had told them upfront to break in with any questions they had, so the girl sitting next to Good Vibes asked me about the collectability of art books. I talked about that for a few minutes, but I knew I was off track. The expression on her face told me that  somehow I had not understood what she was asking. Could it be that  …..?

“Do you mean handmade books, or altered books?” I asked, breaking off in mid-sentence.. (Oh wow – say yes, say yes!).

“Yes!” she said. Her whole being snapped to life and emanated laser beams  “That’s IT! I was wondering whether you think they might be collectible.”

Never had this thought crossed my mind, but all of a sudden I knew she was on to something important. “YES,” I said without a modicum of  hesitation. “I believe they will, depending upon their quality.”  

It’s TRUE. I think it really is true and I am totally jazzed by it. The whirlwind  too gathered energy and suddenly we were all one whirlwind, talking, talking, talking. No longer was I GIVING a talk. I was in a conversation and they were telling me stuff and I was telling them stuff and it was so exciting I was practically in orbit. I fell in love with altered books the first time I saw one. I even tried making one  twice, but wrecked the first one and criticized the second into a premature death. I burn  to try it again. In fact, for days it had been on my mind and now, there at the library, it flew out into the room like a swallow that had been hiding in the rafters.

The book as physical object. The book as Art. The book as counterculture.  Yes! I want to be part of this! One of the most exciting things they told me about was book erasures, a subject brought up  by the lone guy in the whirlwind. I had toyed with this too not knowing it was a real thing, much less a happening thing, a thing with a name. To make an erasure book the artist obscures all but a few selected words on a page which cumulatively become a poem, a story, or the expression of a thought. Imagine combining it with the techniques of the altered book.

Very soon I will have one to show you because I am determined to make one -- one which I I will neither wreck nor criticize before it’s even born. It was no accident, this talk. I was supposed to be there and learn about this. I KNOW it. I also know that it was a gift, the path I've been seeking through the brambles of technologoical and creative wilderness. If I'm to find the light I need to follow it. And so I will.
(Above are two miniature handmade books written, illustrated, bound and signed by Emily  Poor who gave them to me at the library. The other is a handmade book Eric bought a couple years ago. The second photo shows a book erasure with collage I just made. It's a poem from a college literary magazine of the 20's. I quickly redid it to read as follows:

crimson sun arise.
majesty
transparency
waves of morning light
summer lay soft
We breathed another day
Yet there remained
Some memory of the night
A wistful something -- half surprise

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think there is an altered book group in Cleveland. You might ask Ellie Strong about it.
Andrea

tess said...

There IS at Loganberry. They had a display when we were there -- fabulous. But it's too far to Shaker to go that fequnetly. I tried to do it in Meidna once, but it ended up being scrapbooking in a book! NOT my thing!!Thanks for the thought though. I thought it too. Great minds!

Anonymous said...

I like the idea and your revised edited poem. I have just read Purple Clover by Emily Dickinson and posted with a photo of same...but it is too long for me! I may try this, but do I DARE dabble with a master? Maybe just to share with friends who understand! Nice blog Tess and thanks for bringing us along on another learning night at the library! gin

tess said...

Yeah, Dickinson is a bit daunting -- I'm not sure I would take her on either. I did one from REALLY bad prose and posted it on Facebook, but is was fun precisely BECAUSE the original was so poorly written. I think it would even be fun to try this with something technical. If I get some time this afternoon I might give it a go.