this morning,
to examine
form and function
as they relate to the book form.
I pretty much impressed myself when I thought of it.
Not that I have the language or training for such a discussion,
but it has been on my mind.
After all, I've been building and binding little tapestry books,
putting the final touches on set of a PDF instructions,
and sending paper instruction/story zines around the world,
so it's hard not to wonder
as I choose a design for each--
why this --why that?
mostly the kind I can hold in my hand,
though sometimes those of the e-reader variety.
How different then, are my feelings
about books I read for their stories,
books I've written (but not designed),
if long ago when my hair was still dark
often so demanding
that I have to create imaginary shelves
in which to house them.
as stories read aloud
and as part of insightful discussions.
And (she wails)
what about the midcentury feminine middlebrow
my favorite book category of all ?
made early this morning while lying in bed
and thinking this up,
was to illustrate my as yet undiscovered
but undoubtedly insightful thoughts
on these pressing questions
with a few images of the books
I've drawn, painted, woven and built over the years.
It seemed a reasonable approach at the time.
Of course I hadn't yet had any tea.
three things happened.
First: a visit to the bowels of my computer
unearthed a crazy number of images,
each of which stirred up all kinds of distracting memories.
to tying myself in letter-ridden knots,
I remembered that I am not an academic
and really don't have the language for such a discussion.
and rewrite one of those knots,
(heaven knows how),
the Weebly blog app,
in its wisdom,
deleted every word I'd written thus far--
for which action
I can only feel tremendous gratitude
(as, no doubt, should you).
bowing to the wisdom of bits and bytes,
shelving the whole idea of codex deconstruction,
and leaving you with this:
Books are the best, right?
--HERE is where I learned the two needle coptic binding.
---Keith Smith's books -- Volume 1 of Non-adhesive binding; Books Without Paste or Glue--where I learned the curved needle coptic binding I've used up till the ones in this post,
--Velma Bolyard has also shared an enormous amount of book and paper related info, particularly information of kami-ito and shifu (spun and woven paper)