An Art That Binds Comes to LBIF · 2015-10-24 · BOOK SMARTS: A page from a colorful pop-up book,...

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Photographs by Pat JohnsonBOOK SMARTS: A page from a colorful pop-up book, ‘Magic Journey’ by Paul Johnson, is an abstract cathedral created of paper.

WORD PLAY: The concept of ‘Hildegard of Bingen Meets Herman Melville’ was a Scrabble meeting born in Carla Rae Johnson’s imagination.

Flip the Page on What Constitutes a Book

An Art That Binds Comes to LBIF By PAT JOHNSON

What’s a book? To answer that question we could fi ll up your entire paper,” said

Ed Hutchins, co-curator with Caro-lyn Chadwick of “beyondWORDS: Bookfest 2009,” an exhibit at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences through June 29.

“Does a book have to have sections? Text? Illustrations? Se-quence?” he asked. “I’m not going to attempt to answer that. Let’s just say we wanted to put a lot of objects before the public and have them look for the bookness in them.”

Hutchins said he makes untra-ditional books and his friend Chad-wick comes from a bookbinding tradition, so the two perspectives complement each other. They are both artist-members at the Center for Book Arts in New York City, and Chadwick also teaches there.

“We knew most of the artists. It was by invitation because we had so little time, less than a year to get the show together so we contacted people whose work we knew and asked them, “What have you done that’s new? We were thrilled with what came in.”

Hutchins explained the fasci-nation with art books. “There are thousands of book collectors, and for anyone who collects books, this is just a broad spectrum of what’s available. There are antiquary book collectors, and then there are con-temporary book art collectors, and this falls into that category. Recently there was a fi rst time auction of con-temporary books at Swann Gallery in New York, so they are starting to reach a secondary market.”

What bibliophile wouldn’t love to own the “fl agship” of the exhibit, Carla Rae Johnson’s “Hildegard of Bingen Meets Herman Melville.” The 6-foot ship, constructed of

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maple strips, is equipped with a Scrabble board and seems to ride on a Scrabble tile wave. Johnson said she imagined Melville and Hildegard of Bingen (a 9th century German poet, composer, and beatifi ed nun) playing two separate word games on the boat. “They both balance conscious intel-lect with visionary insights. Their vi-sions emphasize the inter-relatedness of all things above and below, and the union of opposites as in the complex relationship of beauty and terror, good and evil, light and darkness.”

She also made drawings to illus-trate both artists’ works.

“Books are how people understand the world,” she wrote. “Everything seems ambiguous in the beginning but the whole picture becomes clear through its progression.”

Heejung Kim’s “Karma”, made of wood spikes, is so attractive to the tactile senses that a “Please Do Not Touch” sign is prominently displayed. Kim’s father was a music composer in Korea. When she was growing up, there were no copy machines so he bound each score for each instrument by hand. The daughter sometimes helped and this started her fascination with book making.

Tara Bryan’s more traditional book of “My Three Dogs” has no words, just wonderful pen and ink drawings of her pooches in various poses and antics. A painter, she also likes to make books because it uses a differ-ent part of her brain. “It gives me a chance to combine verbal ideas and interesting materials in a work that the viewer can touch.”

Elizabeth Jabar’s “Storytelling Cloth” is a type of printed quilt that could be folded into a book. Her “Span” is a printed fabric (felt) that

is wound on a scroll made of a cotton mill spindle. Jabar heads the print department at the Maine College of Art and is the daughter of Lebanese immigrant mill workers in Maine. Her work centers on the ideas of legacy, identity, kinship and faith.

Barbara Page asks, “What is the measure of the days of our lives? The pages of a journal, cancelled checks and faded photography? In the accu-mulation of dated and discarded debris I look for telling evidence of what makes us who we are. You can tell a lot about a person by what they read.”

In “Book Marks” 2009 (ongoing), Page has catalogued all the important books she’s read over her lifetime on library cards that she has adorned with drawings, ink stamps and her insights. The cards are held in antique wooden book catalogue drawers and she takes selections from the catalogue to hang on the wall.

The cards are mostly humorous. For example, for Carle, Eric, The Very Hun-gry Caterpillar, the card has strawberry stamps with holes punched in them. And Gone With the Wind is decorated with a Confederate fl ag and the note “20 inch waist” at the point of the cross.

Because of the “green” revolution, you can’t go wrong with nature-inspired art. Margo Klass takes trips fl y-fi shing in Alaska and she docu-mented her adventures on a stream in “Specimen Books Stariski Creek.” She has carefully encased such trea-sures as stones, fi sh bones and ferns in small boxes, all held together in a book-like form.

Jill Timm wants viewers to look at her painted cards that form a picture of “Early Morning” and feel con-nected to nature.

Judy Hoffman took another tack

in “Forest Floor Secrets II,” where she created and formed paper into leaf-like pages.

Shaun Sheehy’s “Beyond the 6th Extinction, A Fifth Millennium Bestiary” is a pop-up book of crea-tures Sheehy has imagined will survive the next big extinction that he believes has already started. He believes at least some people will survive to create and read his book. The page illustrating a colony of “Rotrap” shows the evolved rodents popping out of their rock wall crev-ices with snapping (paper) teeth and describes their habits and habitat.

For a book that seems more book-like, view and read Frances Watson’s charming accordion book, “Breezes.”

“In the winter the cold wind Blowzes, Bringing Snowzes and freezing Nozes and laying Snowzes where Roses Growzes. In the Spring come the Breezes that brings the Sneezes and the Wheezes and baby leaves upon the Treezes.”

Paul Johnson says he is inspired by medieval religious art and il-luminated texts, yet his pop-up constructions are intricate modern art pieces. “Magic Journey” could be a type of cathedral to the con-temporary spirit.

There are many more intriguing books. Wish this could be a pop-up newspaper article with an arrow saying, ‘Get to this show before it’s gone.’ Although the exhibit is only on display for a few weeks, the catalogue is available to view online at www.bookfest.com. Links to the artists’ own websites are provided. And if the ingenuity of the artists is itching something inside that needs to be scratched, Hutchins will be giving two all-day workshops on making books, June 20 and 21. For more information call LBIF at 494-1241 or visit the web site www.lbi-foundation.org.

Manahawkin Baptist Church, 400 Beach Ave. (597-7586) Worship, worship, 9:30 am; seminars, 10:45-11:45 am.

Manahawkin United Methodist Church, 116 Stafford Ave. (597-7666 or 597-7107) Sun., worship, 8:30 & 11 am.

Mount Zion Baptist Church, Gunning River Rd., Barnegat (fax 698-2537) Call for information.

New Life Community Church, 203 Main St. (Rte. 9), West Creek (296-2813) Sun., worship, 10 am; Tues., Bible study, 7 pm.

Ocean Community Church, 1492 Rte. 72, Manahawkin (597-5151 or www.ocean-church.net) Sun., worship, 9 am (contempo-rary) & 11 am (traditional); nursery care is available for both services. Food pantry for anyone in need, Wed., 10 am-noon.

River of Life Family Church, 589 Rte. 9, Waretown (693-3661 or www.rlfc.com) Wor-ship, Sun., 10 am; Wed., 7:30 pm. Check web site for upcoming community events.

St. Mary’s Parish, (698-5531) St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 747 West Bay Ave., Barnegat. Masses, Sat., 8 am & 5:30 pm; Sun., 8 & 10 am, noon & 5 pm; Mon.-Sat, 8 am. Confession, Sat., 3:30-4 pm. St. Mary of the Pines, McKinley Ave., Manahawkin. Masses, Sat., 4 pm; Sun., 7:30, 9 & 11:30 am; Mon.-Fri., 9 am. Confession, 1st Sat. of each month, 3-3:30 pm.

St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Rte. 9, Waretown (698-8561 or ststephensware-town.org) Sun., Holy Eucharist, 8 & 10 am. Wed., Holy Eucharist, 9 am. Fri., morning prayer & healing, 9 am.

St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, 450 Radio Rd., Little Egg Harbor (296-2504) Masses, Sat., 8 am & 4 pm; Sun., 7:30, 9 & 11 am; Mon.-Fri., 8 am. Sacrament of Reconcilia-tion, Sat., 8:30-9:15 am & 3-3:45 pm.

Southern Ocean Congregational Church, Parkertown Firehouse, 830 Railroad Ave., Little Egg Harbor (812-0325) Sun., Sunday school, 9 am; worship, 10 am; child care provided. Communion, 1st Sun. of each month.

Unitarian Universalist Congregation, 1681 Ridgeway Rd., Toms River (732-244-3455 or www.uuocc.org) Sun., service, 2 pm.

Waretown United Methodist Church, corner of Main St. & Bryant Rd. (693-3134 or waretownumc.org) Sun., services, 9 & 11 am; signing for deaf at 11 am service; Sun-day school for children & adults, 10 am.

West Creek United Methodist Church, Church St. & Thomas Ave. (597-7666 or 597-7107) Call for information.

Wright Memorial Presbyterian Church, 332 South Main St., Rte. 9, Barnegat (698-3358) Sun., Sunday school & worship, 10:30 am; nursery available. 1st Sun. of each month, worship, also 7 pm.

Angel Food Ministry, Manahawkin United Methodist Church, 116 Stafford Ave. (597-7666, ext. 3, or www.manahawkinmethodist.org) This nationwide program offers low-cost food relief to anyone in need, who can place an order at the church the fi rst 2 Sundays of each month, 9:30 am-12:30 pm, with pickup available on the last Saturday, 9 am-noon. Orders may also be placed online.

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Bingo, Manahawkin Elks Lodge, 520 Hill-iard Blvd. (597-1107) Mon. & Wed., 7 pm; doors open, 5 pm.

Flag Disposal, Manahawkin Elks Lodge, 520 Hilliard Blvd. (597-1107) The lodge accepts worn and tattered fl ags for proper disposal. They may be dropped off at the bar daily, noon-8 pm.

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