Artists' Corner: A Collaboration

Artists’ Corner: A Collaboration is Born

Katherine Bertone

Basements can be windowless, dreary places. But at Main Library, special things happen below ground. Marvelously special things. Case in point: over the past 2+ years, three artistic brains down below have been busy birthing a multilayer, multimedia work that “meditates on how everyday appliances…interact with our emotions, actions, family members and perceptions of the present” (as says writer/composer and Materials Handler Tim Novak). That is probably not what you were picturing!

Little Throats of Soulless Things—a handsewn illustrated chapbook with accompanying sound art—began with the whir of a bathroom fan in Tim’s home. That surprised me! The soundtracks crafted from everyday appliances doing their work are not simply a cool add-on to this project. Rather, they were the germ from which the whole work grew.

After the sounds came Tim’s poetry. Next, he considered a video element to capture the household objects. “I eventually scrapped that idea when I remembered some drawings I saw of Dave's: they were alive, full of motion, yet static on the page. It was exactly what I was looking for. ” So he sucked fellow Materials Handler Dave Gonzalez into the project. With ink and a bamboo dip pen, Dave created 3 or 4 drawings for each object in the book; these were eventually winnowed down to one for each. The project grew even richer when Tim folded in yet another Materials Handler. A casual book drop conversation with Renate Marie turned into plans A copy of the materials handlers’ handsewn, illustrated poetry chapbook. Photo credit: Katherine Bertone

for this experienced artist to screen print Dave’s ink drawings and hand-sew the final creation. The execution itself was anything but casual! There was research to be done, and experimentation with various materials. The archival glue recommended overwhelmingly by bookbinders, for example, turned out not to be adequate for the 32-pound linen paper the team planned to use. It just wouldn’t hold. “I was tremendously discouraged for a couple days, ” remembers Renate.