Project Mailart Books

A while ago (to be precise: in a post on February 12) I told you about the “Project Mailart Books” I participated in… I finished the booklet and send it back to Ed Hansen, the guy who started the project. Last week, he published photos of my book on the website (along with the books of the other artists in “Group 61“) so now I feel free to show my little book here too… prepare for lots of photos!

So… how did this work?

A few days after I’d let Ed know that I was willing to participate in this project, I received a small booklet from him. It was made out of very thin paper, which was perfect to use for monoprinting. I had just learned how to make monoprints using oil paint from my neighbour-friend and made a few tests with similar paper to see if the plan I had in mind would work. After I was satisfied about the test-prints, I cut up the book Ed had send me, and used the thin paper to make the final monoprints. The texts are sentences that I cut out of an old fairytale book (Hans Christian Andersen.) Rearranged and brought together in a different order, the text forms a new story… I grabbed some wonderful, handmade paper from my stash to make a new book from and machine stitched the strips of text and the small monoprints to the pages. I bound the book with red waxed thread using the copic stitch.

[Cover and Back] Everything in its place!

I have what I know through my own reflections

I stayed at home

For this was a party of pleasure
I have eaten

Those who are poets can boil soup

Wine was drunk by the bottle

and all the people cried: “Hurah!”

It was a heavy night that i had to pass through

And the sun rose and set

and the little pot simmered

and the big pot simmered

and then it was put into the loft, where it covered with dust and cobwebs

Everything in its usual order

Ed emailed me, after he received my book, saying he liked it.
Hope you like it too!