October 2023 – Everything is Not Black and White

Every day there are reports of multiple books banned because some people found them offensive. Often those same people haven’t even read them. Simple Solution–if you believe that you won’t like a book; don’t read it. Don’t make books unavailable for people who would find them enjoyable, interesting, and informative.

My mother was an avid reader. She taught me to love and respect books. Some of my fondest memories are of our monthly visits to the pubic library. I loved walking through the stacks, looking for, and finding something wonderful to read.

I continued the practice when I was in college and grad school. One of the benefits about being a grad student, was being permitted to keep books for an entire term. I loved that I had a borrowed library in my apartment.

Whenever I had extra money, I bought books. I have over 1,300 printed books and nearly 650 digital books. My printed books are on shelves and stacked all over the house–on chairs, floors, desks, and my studio work table. Some books are stored in boxes in the garage. Digital books are nice because they take up little space. Just not the same sensory experience as touching, smelling, and reading paper books.

As a young adult, I never considered folding a page or making marks in my books. Most likely it was the result of decades of borrowing. Now I make notes, comments, and even record ideas for art projects. I am warming to digital books. It is easy to make highlights and add notes. The search feature and print function saves loads of time.

For the past year, I have been making books based on my reading and current events. I like that most of the books I made are small and intimate. Some are wee things can be secreted away in a shirt pocket.

I integrate several of the same techniques and materials I used in previous work. The connection to past work, makes the book format comfortable while I am learning new techniques and processes.

Read–Ray Bradbury

The Ray Bradbury quote used in the piece is–You don’t have to burn books to destroy culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

This is the first piece that I used a binary code. Since I planned to use burnt matches for the code, binary was a good fit. The book was completed in September.

Bradbury Read