Documenting the show! BOOKWORKS 12

Jo Diamantes cataloging the work

  Whew! Putting together a exhibition is a long process - but we think worth it! All the team effort pays off in presenting strong and interesting work in a professional setting and producing a digital catalog that each particpating artist will be given. Three dedicated CBAS members spent a long day at the library on Friday May 20th photographing all 52 entries in Bookworks 12. Photographer Dianne Dennis was assisted by Jo Diamantes and Cecie Chewning. Thanks to Jeanne Strauss-DeGroote for reserving our "studio" space in a meeting room at the library and so carefully receiving all the entries. 

Dianne Dennis lends her photographic expertise

Judging from all the excellent creative work submitted, Bookworks 12 will be a great exhibit to see this summer! Tell your friends and...

 

 

Remember to mark your calendars now for the two exhibition
walk-throughs  

with some of the exhibiting book artists:  

Sunday, June 19, and Sunday,
August 28, both from 2-3 p.m.

More delicious books and news!

While I was busy being anxious about life and all the stuff I have to do, many CBAS members were at the downtown main branch library sharing their own unique books, listening to the good news about Bookworks 12 (49 entries! Our highest level of participation yet) and hearing a fascinating lecture by CBAS member Kazuko Hioki. Read more below!

Example of Edo Period printing and illustration

Fifteen CBAS members gathered on the afternoon of May 1 at the Main Library to be brought up to date on CBAS activities, meet with other book artists, admire the books on the Show-and-Tell table, and listen to a fascinating presentation by Kazuko Hioki, Conservation Librarian at the University of Kentucky.  The focus of Kazuko’s talk was the Edo period of Japanese bookmaking, the subject of her recently completed fellowship at the Library of Congress.  

Kazuko Hioki

Lasting from about 1600 into the 1860s, this trans-formative time in Japanese history saw increases in literacy, advances in printing technology, and an enormous expansion of book production, making books available to a wide and eager audience.  To keep competitive and attract buyers during a time when tens of thousands of small publishing houses came into being, even mathematics books had imaginative designs and ample illustrations.  Several of the examples in Kazuko’s presentation were from these wonderfully detailed mathematics books.  Though many of the structures had simple side stitched bindings, the colorful and often intricately embossed and burnished covers resulted in some truly beautiful books.

After the presentation, everyone gathered around the table where Kazuko had brought examples of about a dozen wonderful books from the Edo period.  Everyone’s favorite was an authentic Edo book Kazuko purchased on eBay for $1!

Thanks to CBAS board member Janice Kagermeier for writing the blog entry.

Many thanks to Kazuko Hioki for sharing her time and expertise with us, and to Jeanne Strauss-deGroote at the Library for making all of the arrangements for the meeting.

CBAS Annual Meeting - May 1st

All are invited to CBAS's Annual Membership Meeting

Sunday May 1st, 2pm
Tower Room, Main Library, 3rd Floor, South Building.
800 Vine Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202

At 2pm, CBAS Board Members will report on and review the past year and discuss plans for the future. Please come to the meeting to ask questions and find out more about CBAS activities or dream about the future! We are a member organization and we want to know what you think!

Featured  Guest Speaker: Kazuko Hioki at 3:00 PM

Illustrating and discussing: "The World of Edo Binding"

Kazuko will have actual examples to share with the audience.
Informal question and answer periods during and after the talk.

All are welcome to attend this presentation.

Summary for CBAS meeting on May 1, 2011

Until the seventeenth century, most Japanese texts circulated in the form of handwritten manuscripts and were limited to a small group of social elites.  Although printing was introduced  as early as the eighth century, printed texts were almost exclusively made by Buddhist institutions with small print runs.  The Edo period (1603-1867) was the turning point of print culture in Japan.  During this period, books became a popular commodity, as a result of a flourishing commercial publishing industry.  At the peak of the print culture in the eighteenth century, it is estimated that over 10,000 titles had been published totalling more than ten million copies.  A wide variety of texts, from classical to how-to manuals, and medical texts to popular fiction, were published in response to the demands of the expanding reading population. Book covers became one of the most effective advertising tools.  Bright colours and elaborate decorations were used for book covers. Books were mass-produced using low-cost paper, and dimensions were standardized. Physical appearance, such as size and book cover decoration,  became associated with certain genres of writing. 

This talk examines examples of these physical characteristics, in particular book covers, of printed Edo books, and discusses the publishing industry and print culture of the Edo period.

Making Books

Cody Calhoun (center, front row) with workshop participants.

 Last Saturday, CBAS member Cody Calhoun gave a special book arts workshop exploring both traditional and contemporary book binding techniques. 


The books look great, perhaps we will see a few closer up and in more detail in the upcoming Bookworks 12 exhibit!

Book arts workshop reveals a Pyramid

Several CBAS members traveled to Lexington, Kentucky, April 2, to participate in “PYRAMID POWER”, a workshop taught by Chicago-based book artist and CBAS member Karen Hanmer. The night before the workshop, Karen presented an illustrated lecture about her work, including her artist’s books, design bindings and installations.  (You, too, can check out her work at www.karenhanmer.com.)

Triangle book form

The Saturday workshop was held at The King Library Press, a fine printing heaven on the University of Kentucky campus directed by Dr. Paul Holbrook and associates. (You can find about more about the Press at www.uky.edu/Libraries/KLP/.) Our work for the day began with Karen explaining the triangle book structure we would be learning. We then proceeded to cut lots of “perfect” triangles, glue up lots of hinges between triangles and apply a top layer of triangles. Precision was our aim though not always achieved in our prototypes; however, we’ve taken the first step. Now it’s up to us sixteen participants to be as creative as we can and think of appropriate content (images, text) with which we might use this very flexible and interesting form. 

Workshop participants

Karen with her Triangle book

Thanks to the Press, Paul, Dave, and the library volunteers for the hospitality and to Karen for sharing her enthusiasm and skill. We’re duly inspired or, should we say, “empowered by the pyramid!”

25 days and counting! "Bookworks 12" wants you!

Not That Hungry   D. Stemper

Call for Entry - BOOKWORKS 12

The time is getting close, only 25 days until entries are due for Bookworks 12. Get out those supplies and finish your wonderful creations for submission to CBAS's annual exhibit at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County. We hope that this year, the exhibit will better than ever and span many cases in the main atrium of the downtown main branch library. We know it will be a delight for all to see!

We are looking for finely bound handcrafted books, artists books, or sculptural books and seek a diverse and representative showing of the regions' book arts. 

Deadline for submission is April 25th. Visit CBAS's website for an entry form and more details:   http://www.cincinnatibookarts.org

For more information or questions send an email to:  CBASinformation@gmail.com

Gabrielle Fox Lecture at UC Blegen Library

With Jazz, cover

CBAS members might enjoy this upcoming presentation that Gabrielle Fox will be giving at the Archives & Rare Books Library, in the Schott Seminar Room, 814 Blegen Library, UC on Thursday, April 14th at noon.  Gabrielle Fox is one of the founding members of CBAS and a book binder and conservator extraordinaire.

Gabrielle will talk about one of her most famous bindings, the 1994 Larkspur Press edition of With Jazz by Kentucky author Bobbie Ann Mason.  Other bindings of Gabrielle Fox's will on display, one is of specially commissioned binding of 18th c. Irish plays that commemorated the 75th anniversary in 2007 of the Association of Research Libraries, of which UC is a charter member.