I participated in a group show a few years ago titled Works With Words at the Nashville Public Library. The artists involved represented not only book art but also painting, mixed media, photography, and sculptural book and paper works. I met Daniel at the install and found him to be incredibly generous and kind. In addition to the altered book sculptures above he also creates what I would call pyro-portraits.
Sewing Machine Orchestra is a sound and light performance by Canadian artist Martin Messier. The eight 1940-1950s Singer sewing machines are interlinked with a micro-controller system without need for human interaction.
Recently a friend gifted me with an example of the Quay Brothers stop animation, The Calligrapher.
I hadn't seen this one before, but after viewing a few more I recalled having seen the Quay Brothers many years ago. I can't remember where but it left me with an unsettled feeling that reminded me of a time about 10-12 years ago when I developed an interest in surrealist films. I spent a lot of time pausing the frames on unusual compositions and writing about what I saw there. One filmmaker that I seemed particularly drawn to was Jan Svankmajer. I often found myself sitting a friend down in front of the television and putting on a Svankmajer stop animation. Most people were repulsed by him which I never understood. His films are difficult to sit through, the pace is painfully slow (like chinese water torture), although it is worth it to find those hilarious moments. He has a wonderful sense of humor. There was one film, however, that I really enjoyed being swept away by. So much so that many years later I subconsciously based a series of photographs on the work. That film was Little Otik. Netflix it some rainy day.
Pages cut from the circumference of a hollow log divided into four codex bound books of equal size. It appeals to my love of binding durn near anything, and it makes an interesting shape, but it seems kind of lame doesn't it? I haven't made up my mind how I feel about it.
