Book project

Book experiment 1

In this book piece, I wanted to experiment with texture and heartfelt subjects such as war. For the first page, I pasted an image of seemingly enthusiastic soldiers marching into what would soon me their impending doom. Below is some text I ripped out from one of my Catholic prayer books, similar to a quote from the "book of psalms". This rather naive first page surprisingly contrasts with the second page, decimated after the horrific aftermath of war. To represent the carnage, I collaged many images of wounded soldiers, medical drawings, and sprinkles of sand around the page. The page title "Dead Souls" was made up of texts from a news paper and from one of my prayer books. The intention was to show no matter what the reasons are, war is futile.  

Book experiment 2

The techniques used to produce this book piece were very different from what I'm normally use to. I tried experimenting with delicate processes such as cutting, carving, and paper manipulating, similar to the techniques practised by Brian Detmeer. I removed the map of the Vatican on the first page and pasted it on top of an image of a wounded soldier I pulled out from an old war book. While it may be quite a decent piece in it's own right, I doubt I'd want to use these techniques for my final ideas. 

 

Book experiment 3

In this piece, I wanted explore textured surfaces. To do so, I soaked this book underneath a running tap and I began to scratch away the modern looking book cover to make it look more decayed.  I pasted an image of the Virgin Mary on the cover to bring a sense of spirituality to the book. I opened up the inside of the book and, coincidently, the water soaked right through the pages into a shape of an angel. Inspired, I decided to collage religious text over the soaked areas to bring out the angel figure. I added some wings on both sides of the book to extend the figure more. This is definitely one of the more interesting pieces I've produced thus far and may well continue to explore surfaces for my upcoming book art pieces. 

Knife wound book

This is one of the first experiments that leads towards my final theme for this project. I flattened a number of book pages into a square shape and fused them together using latex. Once the latex dried, I created the visceral knife wounds with a craft knife. While the piece works well in it's own right, I feel I could go much further with the surface qualities in order to represent the graphic nature of a knife wound.

Bounded

Perhaps the most eerie book piece I've produced as part of my installation is this piece, entitled "bounded". I got the idea from the first scene of Rough Justice by Stephen Leather were three drug dealers were being brutally interrogated by a group of vigilante police man while being tied up. I tightly rolled up two books and pieced them together using latex. I then wrapped white thread dipped in orange ink around the book to give the implication that the book  has been bounded by ruthless vigilantes. I then pasted some paragraphs from the interrogation scene itself in order for viewers to get a better idea of what this piece represents.

Hard as nails
In this book piece, I pieced two solid books together using latex. The intention was to represent an individual who considers themselves indestructible and,as the title puts it, "hard as nails". Considering that not alot of techniques was required to produce this, this is actually quite remarkable.

Sliced

One of the strongest and perhaps most edgy pieces is this one, entitled "sliced" I used one of my books I already damaged and I began violently cutting into the surfaces with a craft knife. After noticing how far I've cut into the book, I dug my fingers into the wounds and open out the gashes to show the text beneath, making the surface look even more violated. This is definitely one of the more visceral books I've produced and will go towards my final outcome.

Gunned

One of the easiest yet most visually effective book I produced was this one above. I simply soaked one of my spare books under a tap and let the somewhat modern looking book covers dissipate. After waiting for it to dry, I drilled several holes with a power drill to create several holes which represent horrific entry wounds suffered from gunshot blasts. This idea was inspired by the final chapter of the book I was working from entitled "Rough Justice" in which the main antagonist is killed by gunfire by armed police. 

Burned

This book here was one of the most enjoyable and potentially dangerous books too produce. The theme was inspired by a chapter of the book "Rough Justice" in which an arson attack took place. I took the book down into the 3D room and began applying the horrific burn marks using a hot air gun. It was important that I used the hot air gun under an air vent to prevent the fire alarms from going off and at times I had to apply water to the marks to stop them from burning. The process was quite risky, but the outcome was hugely satisfying.

Battered.

Out of all the books I've produced, this one is probably the grittiest and most quirky both in terms of it's theme and the surface qualities. After removing hardbacks from two different books, I began to play around with the shapes by manipulating the different corners of the books into awkward angles, almost as it the book has been brutalized by gangs in a fist fight. These two books are later fused together with latex which also helps to create the gritty surface qualities. I then collaged some text from a chapter of "Rough Justice" in which  drug dealers are violently beaten by vigilant cops. The nature of the book may come across quite controversial to some viewers, but hopefully people will appreciate the intense physical qualities. 

"Rough Justice"

Here is my final outcome for the book project. After producing all my textured book, I began too look around for something to mount them on. I found this discarded cabinet near the college skips and decided to "redecorate" it. Luckily I was given pamission to use dangerous tools such as an axe and an ice pick to hit the cabinet with. I attacked the left hand side with the axe to suggest grisly flesh wounds and the ice pick to suggest entry wounds suffered from gunfire, all of which add to the violent nature of the installation. After I finished applying the wounds, I painted the cabinet with a coat of white paint to make it look more uniformed for when I finally stack my books. As part of a competition, this was voted the most "quirky" which later won me a prize.