BOOK ART By Lola Osunneye
BRIEF The brief is based on destroying and manipula>ng a book using 5 chosen words from the actual book and then including ar>s>c ways to interpret those words. My task is to • Show dis>nct crea>vity • Consider what the purpose is • Paper sculpture techniques • Record the transforma>on • Final Piece
ARTIST RESEARCH Jennifer Khoshbin
When the project was brought forward, I had no direc>on of what to do or where to start. I began researching by looking at book art and I discovered this ar>st. Her work caught my aNen>on, her style is unique and very effec>ve. I love the way she uses repe>>on and creates layers coming out the page or going into the page. Most of her pieces draw a lot of aNen>on mainly because of the images she uses to work with, the contrasts of colours and the 3D techniques. She's known for using circles and making them look like holes. She also makes pictures pop out of pages. She displays a series of crea>vity and puts a lot of thought in what she does, the picture books she chooses to work with always have a superb connec>on and blend very well together. I will be cuSng into books in a similar way to her style of work.
Architecture Book: First Forma>on
Book 1 These images where taken at home with my personal camera. My inten>on was to record the process of cuSng into the book. I photographed it in different ways by making it stand up, from the side and birds eye view which in fact resembles a fan. It is clear that I began with a large triangle in the middle and later on decided to add more to the blank spaces using a scalpel.
-‐ Experimen>ng
The reasons behind choosing an architecture picture book is based on my career choice. In the future my hope is to become an Architect, I figured it’ll be beneficial for me to experiment with the term. Architecture has rela>ons to buildings, it includes planning, designing and space that reflect efficiency. It also reveals technicality and ar>s>c forms. It will always require a crea>ve manipula>on with synchronized material. I decided to manipulate the book in a way to display an ar>s>c architectural form. I took inspira>on from Jennifer’s work and interpreted it using triangular shapes.
I was sa>sfied and more or less pleased with the outcome seeing as I started with a simple shape and it formed into something more appealing. Everything works well with each other and it looks good from different angles. I think some of the edges are quite rough and some of the cuts I made aren't straight so if I was to do it again I’ll try and make them more neat.
Renaissance book: Second Forma>on
‘An Insight into the Past’ From triangles I decided to work with squares with this book and create it to look like a window into history. I worked backwards, cuSng from the last page of the book so it looks as if that was my end result. I didn’t cut all the way through because I wanted people to see the pages with the images on. I believe its an interes>ng shape and a beau>ful contrast between the black and white pages/images and the coloured ones.
‘An Insight into the Past’ I love the way the pages flap out, its like a fan in each corners. The whole idea of it being windows into history reflects a story, a book made out of a book. Overall I am sa>sfied with the outcome, Renaissance means Rebirth or revival and I believe that I've breathed life into a more or less boring book and allowed you to focus on the interes>ng aspects to it.
Egyp>an book: Third Forma>on
‘History Coming to life’ This was an Egyp>an book, I didn’t exactly choose a word from it, instead looked at the actual concept of it which involves pyramids, >me, gods & goddesses etc. My ini>al idea was to make the images go from 2D to 3D, coming out the page like history emerging. Referring back to my previous crea>ons they were more to do with slight cut pages that flip out but with this one , I was experimen>ng how it would look if I repeatedly cut out the outline leaving one side uncut so it doesn’t all fall out. I went through all the pages in the book and chose this par>cular page because of the Egyp>an queen image, I thought it was quite appealing and would look the best when made to look 3D. I then cut off a couple pages and reached the lea page with a pyramid picture, once again displaying the contrast between black and white and coloured images.
I par>cularly love this page because it is in fact the most effec>ve due to the way its photographed displaying the shadows and depth crea>ng a more 3 dimensional piece. The image on the lea reminds me of a head sculpture you would come across, in a museum
By turning the page upside down you get this shape. I had inten>ons of making it look like a pyramid. I think its interes>ng that the opposite image looks like sand working well with the triangles. Moreover I was pleased to be able to include the shape I began with and linking to the whole concept of the book.
These are images of when you flip the pages. The silhoueNes look out of the ordinary, some on the boNom lea for example looks like a walk into a tomb linking to Egypt , forming for itself.
ARTIST RESEARCH Jen Stark This ar>st works with hundreds of layers of color, piling them in such a way that create brilliant rainbow composi>ons. I was researching into pop up books and this came up.
My interpreta>on
ARTIST RESEARCH Serra Victoria Bothwell Fels Serra Victoria Bothwell makes large-‐scale construc>on installa>ons that are built into exis>ng architecture. Her work abstracts structures made up of layers and layers of other like structures,. Her large-‐scale installa>ons are most oaen shown in abandoned or odd loca>ons. In this par>cular piece she's also done a pain>ng on the walls to have a superb blend. There are obvious rela>ons to her style to what I created; the triangles and the layering technique.
Exhibi@on
People looking at my work
Feedback from Visitors • • • • •
It looks amazing Architectural Would’ve liked to see the actual books Stands out, captures your aNen>on Professional photography
Feedback from Class • Use more picture books to empathize pictures and give it more depth • If the main book ( colourful one) was done in black and white to make it more subtle. • The colours are too bright and not so appealing • Get loads of different faces and make them look more 3D • The photography is really good • Try to be more free with it rather than be too perfect
Evalua@on I really enjoyed working on this project, I think it was immensely successful. It was a new experience for me, as I’ve never done such technique with books before and by the outcomes coming out interes>ng was a pleasant feeling. I love it that the books looked architectural which referred to my career choice. The ar>sts I looked at such as Jen Stark and Jennifer Khosbin was very inspiring and mo>vated me to create something just as exci>ng, I think my work has a clear rela>on with their style of work with the overlapping layers. My final book was plain but colourful inspired by Jen Starks work, I think the book would’ve looked beNer if it was in a different colour because the colours are too vibrant which can be a good and bad thing, good thing because it will stand out and aNracted your eye and a bad thing because it can be unappealing and want to make you look away from it, black and white may have been a more suitable approach. Overall, the project was a great achievement, I was pleased with my photography and I’ll be intrigued to make an extension of it.