May 1, 2006

APRIL SHOWERS--AGAIN

Book Arts students were again asked to utilize "Dissolvo" paper in a book, a year after I first devised this assignment. (For a complete description of the paper and my original assignment, see the April 22, 2005 presentation, below.) I've selected eight student book artists and written brief descriptions of their book works for this web exhibit.

Click on the images for a close-up view.

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BEST FRIENDS
Kate Baker

Baker's book is in a Memory Box she created: a locket of a (broken) heart on a chain. The locket's pages contain a full page of text; however, when separated, the half pages of the "broken heart" may be read as separate texts, texts quite different in meaning than the original, full page.

THE ALL-AMERICAN SUPPOSO-DISSOLVO BULLET BOOK OF WISDOM
T. a. Blaha

Pictures of various American atrocities are followed by a question-and an answer which consists of words of peace and compassion printed on foil-wrapped Dissolvo paper for use as a suppository by needful citizens.

PROOF
Shawn R. Brown

Brown documents in photographs printed on Dissolvo paper how many licks it takes to dissolve the outer coating of a Tootsie-Roll Pop.

ONLY THE STRONG SURVIVE
Jane Dater

A catalogue of vanished species of birds is listed on Dissolvo pages in Dater's volume which opens with a photograph of one "eternal" bird.

PANDEMIC
Niky Dryden

Dryden's clever, twig-bound photograph-and-silhouette-and-
blueprint pages book presents a sequence of gradually diminishing forests and urban and suburban developments sprawl…. The trees are on Dissolvo; the blueprints are not. (For similar environmental concerns, see IDAHO FARM-DIVISIONS, below.)

EX-BOYFRIEND YEARBOOK
Eryn Hunt

Jerks who have dated and then jilted book artist Eryn are seen in color photos she has printed on water-soluble paper; on the final pages, however, we discover a more permanent young man whose image is not on Dissolvo!

IDAHO FARM-DIVISIONS
Tanya Oberst

Oberst documents her concerns about the disappearance on irreplaceable Idaho agricultural lands in her charming and disarming, chintz-ribbon bound volume. Versos contain disturbing data about vanishing farmlands, while rectos contain photographs of that land-printed on Dissolvo paper.

HALLIBURTON CODE OF ETHICS
Earle D. Swope

Bitter ironies characterize the eight pronouncements purportedly made by the Halliburton firm-promises all printed on dissolving paper and bound between spiral boards of yellow sponges.

April 22, 2005

APRIL SHOWERS /
DISSOLVING BOOKS

Because I am working on an artists’ book that utilizes “Dissolvo” paper, it dawned on me spring semester 2005 that my Book Arts students should be afforded the opportunity to make their own dissolving books. “Dissolvo” is also known as “Spy Paper” because it was/is supposedly used by secret agents when writing down information that, if retrieved by enemies, might incriminate the agent. This special paper may be quickly disposed of, for it dissolves instantly in water. (See http://www.dissolvo.com.).

Accordingly, I devised the following assignment:

Topic(s): open
Length: open
Book structure(s): open 
Production method(s): open 
Font(s): open
Ink/pencil/paint(s): open
Binding: open 
Content (text, visual, or text & visual): open
Paper: “Dissolvo” (water soluble “Spy Paper” used for the entire   
           book or major portions of it)

Rationale: materials used in bookworks should be carefully selected. Successful bookmakers always employ the appropriate, and frequently they exploit special features, properties, or idiosyncrasies of the “ingredients” in their books to augment, emphasize, or enhance their themes or meanings. In such works we see a fusion of form and content.

The “Dissolving Books” assignment requires students to initially consider only one element in their bookwork: choice of paper. This requirement should not be seen as a restriction, however, but as an opportunity to create a biblio synergy. Students employing and integrating appropriate elements, as well as addressing appropriate themes or topics, will have produced not just any book, they will have created an “artists’ book.”

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I have selected eleven student bookworks from two ENGL 309 Introduction to Book Arts classes to be enjoyed in a multi-media presentation (see below). Author and instructor comments about the books may be read (below), and are organized alphabetically by author’s last name.

Photographs: Carrie Quinney, Photo Services, BSU

Multi-Media/PowerPoint Presentation: Brian Warthen, Academic Technologies, BSU

April Showers/Dissolving Books
PowerPoint Presentation
[Download size: 18.5 MB ]

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AUTHOR LISTINGS

Carrie Applegate

QUEUE & COMPANY CATALOGUE

10 ½ x 8 ¼” saddle-stitched “West Elm” catalogue houses 7 3/4 x 5 ½” Queue & Co. laser printed catalogue on 8 pp. of “Dissolvo” paper 

Are you a spy on the go without much time to shop for necessary tools & gadgets? Queue & Co. has just released their Spring 2005 catalog for all your espionage needs. Printed on special Dissolvo paper, this catalog can be quickly destroyed to protect your identity and its contents. The catalog will be sent to you cleverly disguised within another catalog. If you suspect detection, simply throw the catalog in water, and the Queue & Co. catalog will quickly dissolve leaving only a damp non-suspect catalog. Call Queue & Co. today to become a pre-qualified member and you will receive your catalog in a secure location within 1-2 weeks of membership approval. Queue & Co., suppliers of fine espionage equipment since 1952.

Carrie has in a sense done an altered book. She has taken the Summer Preview 2005 WEST ELM catalogue and surreptitiously positioned her HP Laser Jet-printed catalogue inside it. Carrie's catalogue is for "Queue & Co.," an upscale spy outfitter for James Bond, etc., whose motto she has created: "Suppliers of Fine Espionage Equipment Since 1952." Some of the equipment listed includes: "Shark Attract," a suction cup item you attach to any object or foe in water to attract--not repel--sharks, "Gorsheim blade boots" described as "ordinary looking shoes with sharp surprise at toe"--a knife, and a "Swedish USB Knife." 

Susan Beitia

THE SAME OLD STORY OF THE DAMAGE DONE A CAUTIONARY TALE

5 ½ x 4”—modified accordion fold from one “Dissolvo” parent sheet creating 16 panels with flaps and dissolved “die cuts” 
“Dissolvo” paper is the perfect vehicle to carry a presumably fictional addict’s saga of doom and disintegration.

Kenji Hyde

UNFORGOTTEN MEMORIES

4 x 2 ½”—covers and 4 “Dissolvo” pp. (+ 4 “Hidden Room” panels) 
All of us retain memories that we wish would cease to be part of our thoughts. It seems that the more we try to forget the more our minds our plagued with these recollections. This hidden room book is a representation of how some memories will follow us to the grave. It was printed on dissolvable paper which when it’s dissolved, it’s gone, forever. The memories within the hidden room don’t cease to exist unless the young man on the other side of the paper also ceases to be. 

Hyde has used a "Hidden Room" structure for his Epson ink jet printed dissolving book constructed from one sheet of paper.

Jen Martin

FLUSHABLE FACTS

7 x 5 ¾” toilet seat-shaped book with hinged seat that lifts to reveal a cut-out and folded toilet seat cover on “Dissolvo” paper; 1 sheet of toilet paper insert 

When I learned about dissolvable paper, all I could picture was a toilet liner. You know what I am talking about – those tissue paper-like things that have a cut-out of a human head in the center. 

I was contemplating making some sort of single sheet book in the shape of a toilet liner, but couldn’t really come up with a topic. Then it came to me: the cover should be shaped like a toilet seat, and the pages will unfold into a toilet liner. I used cardboard for the boards because it is convenient and economical, and spray painted them white. I used hinges on the spine, which I adhered with good old super glue.

I glued two of the dissolving papers together, in hopes that the words wouldn’t show through. The double thickness helped, but it is still a bit transparent.

I found all sorts of interesting facts on the internet about anything bathroom related, and a few disturbing ones as well. I printed these out on the third sheet of dissolvable paper. I then cut and pasted the facts onto the pages. The book slowly progresses from unimportant toilet trivia into more serious global issues, which need to be dissolved / resolved. 

The book cost me about four bucks. All I really had to buy was the spray paint and the hinges. The cardboard I had handy, and the paper was provided. 

I am pretty satisfied with my book. I like the way the content and structure intertwine; however, I would do some things differently next time. I don’t think I would use cardboard again. It is very hard to work with, especially when it comes to cutting round edges. Also, I would make sure I had more than three sheets of dissolvable paper, as it is very fragile and kept tearing on me.

Lori McKinley

I AM BUT ONE

4 ¾ x 4 ¾”—with 8 accordion panels (4 with brad-affixed-and-swiveling transparencies) 

The content of my book relates to the disappearing nature of the paper on two different levels. First, the color pictures printed directly on the dissolving paper depict aspects of nature—a tree, a rose, a star, or a person—that will one day disappear. The second layer of meaning consists of the black and white photos printed on transparencies. These pictures depict groups—a grove of trees, a field of daisies, a galaxy of stars, or a crowd of people—that hide the beauty of an individual thing. A person’s uniqueness can disappear into a group, or a bright star can be hidden by the light of the surrounding galaxy. The transparencies are affixed over the corresponding color photos with brads, creating contrast, but also allowing for the pictures below to be seen. The dissolving paper is folded in an accordion fold and glued onto the boards of the book, which are made of vinyl paper. I feel like this book turned out very well, although the quality of some of the transparency photos is not very sharp. 

Joseph Ney

TEA-TIME

5 1/8 x 8”—shaped book holding 5 “Dissolvo” tea bags

Jenny Respress

DISMEMORY

5 x 8”—stab-bound (with ribbon) photo-album style book with 10 pp.; 10 “Dissolvo” photos tipped atop colorful patterned papers.

Natalie Rowley

THE HARDEST PART OF GETTING PILLS IS OPENING THE BOTTLE

5 ½” diameter circular case; 4 ¾” diameter circular book covers (ribbon-bound) house a 16 panel accordion fold booklet with 2 ½” pills affixed to panel sides 

My subject is the use of medication as a quick fix. I came up with idea though brainstorming objects that dissolve. Pills dissolve and also can dissolve lives.

The container (CD container) of the book is made to look like a bottle that would contain medication. In the book I have created a progression of medication that starts at childhood with over the counter drugs and that leads to prescription medication. The pages are shaped like pills. Next to each pill (dissolving paper) there is a simple yet effective lifestyle or nutritional solution (non-dissolving) that may take care of the same symptoms that the pills do. I did not realize the extent of research that was necessary for this subject until it was too late, so it may be overly simplistic but hopefully still gets the point across that pills dissolve and are not a lasting solution that lifestyle changes are. I would someday like to redo the book because I do like the idea and the basic structure; I just need more concrete information. The piece is mixed medium, mostly color pencil on the pills with a small amount of marker. The thicker paper is mat board, and some acrylic paint is used to clean up edges and refine the structure. An accordion style structure shows how the use of medication innocently progresses from childhood into adulthood. I realize the importance of some medication; however, I would like to see alternative healthier methods used more. We change ourselves for a society that does not care about our health. I feel that it is crucial that we reevaluate this for future generations. 

Trish Thorpe

DECLINE

5 ¼ x 3”—5 pp. with portions of “Dissolvo” tipped-in stab-bound book with cover 

I had never heard of “Dissolvo” paper until my fall Book Arts course. I felt compelled to experiment with this new media and discovered a few interesting aspects about it when making my book, Decline. First, when I applied water gradually with a small paintbrush, it enabled me to form lines and shapes fairly accurately. I also found I could use a brush and water and pull fibers from the edge, creating a raw edge found in fabrics. Then I stumbled onto something that intrigued me by dipping this media into water. If I dipped for 1 second, it would simply disappeared before my eyes, only to leave a foggy, haze swirling in my water container. Then I sped up my dipping process to a fraction of a second and was able to lay the strip onto a black paper surface. It overlapped and lost its shape immediately. What I discovered at that moment was that I could move this waterlogged material and turn it into a mushy, paper paste, which surprisingly created beautiful transparent and opaque effects onto black linen paper. I continued to make 6 different shapes and was quite pleased with myself, until it dried. The thin, transparent areas had dried and disappeared. I was left with remnants of the more opaque, heavier paste and had to cut out the original shapes from the black paper and find a new way to present them for my book. I felt the images definitely had a dark, mystery to them and found the word “decline” as a title which seemed suitable with the somewhat dissolved images I created out of the “Dissolvo” paste. 

Micaela Young

MULTI-USE POCKET DISSOLVO

3 x 3”—blank “Dissolvo” book, transparency covers with silhouette font title/ description, spiral bound

Angelena Zeimantz

THE CONFESSION OF A TEENAGE STEPDAUGHTER

8 ½ x 5 ½”—11 pp. (last page, “My Confession” on “Dissolvo”), spiral bound